When we collide
by Sonya06
Summary: Ohno Kiku was a closed off girl, who used to hide behind her long hair. But what could happen if she suddenly lost her protective curtain? What if she was pulled out of her lonely world by the most unexpected people? Wakamatsu Kousuke was huge and brash, girls avoided him. He was the only one from his friends who has never had a girlfriend. Could a little, clumsy girl change that?
1. Chapter 1: Starting over

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Kuroko no basuke characters. And I write this here only once.

 **Author's note:** Hello there. English is not my first language, so sorry for mistakes. This is my second fic.

It will be closely connected to my story 'Would you dare?'. My OCs will be in both stories, but I'll try to introduce everyone properly, so even if you don't read 'Would you dare?', it shouldn't be too confusing. It should be a slow burn again, so I hope it won't be too rushed (as much as I'd love to catch up with the other fic, I can't do that for now).

I just thought that Kiku and Wakamatsu deserve their own fic so... enjoy.

* * *

 _Haters and bullies are always cowards, you know. They like to pick on little guys **. ―**_ ** _Scylar Tyberius_** ** _,_** ** _Sebastian the Great_**

 _Don't give up now, chances are your best kiss your hardest laugh and your greatest day are still yet to come **― Atticus Poetry, Love Her Wild**_

 _Each sunrise brings a new day filled with new hopes for a new beginning. ― ** Debasish Mridha**_

 _Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me. **– Carol Burnett**_

 _Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever. **– Keri Russell**_

* * *

 ** _Junior-high school 1st year:_**

 _"Why do you need shoes when you can't walk in them? You trip over your own feet!" A vicious girl from her class screeched at her as she threw her shoes into garbage and set it on fire._

 _Kiku was just standing there barefoot, held by two other girls, watching as her favourite pair of shoes got destroyed. And she knew it was only a start. They'd probably blame her for the mess too. She glared at them._

 _"Oh? You want to say something?"_

 _"Go to hell." Kiku said quietly._

 _SLAP._

 _Her head turned to a side under the leader's hand. It wasn't as strong as it could've been. Defiance was burning in Kiku's chocolate brown eyes. So she was clumsy, and?_

That was the very first meeting of Kiku and the three girls, who had turned her junior-high school life into a nightmare. Disgusting nightmare of solitude, suffering and pain. Kiku turned from a normal girl into a ball of nerves and she was now scared of people. The last straw came right before the end of their third year.

 _Girls sneaked up on her when she went to restrooms. It was a place she feared to go to – so many bad memories – but she needed to go. Kiku was extra careful that no one followed her. Her cramps were killing her and she felt nauseous. Maybe she was nauseous because of the period, or maybe she just didn't eat properly for three days – she didn't feel hungry._

 _She was washing her hands when the door burst opened and then slammed shut._

 _"Here's where you went!" A well known voice said._

 _Kiku closed her eyes. Her stomach turned and she gagged. She tried to hide it and tears filled her eyes, this was a living nightmare._

 _"Why are you quiet?!" The girl grabbed her hair and harshly pulled her away from sink, which made Kiku stumble and she fell on her bottom. "Say 'hello', you clumsy bitch. "The girl was still pulling her hair and it felt as if she would rip it out from her skull._

 _"H-h-h-ello." She stuttered in barely a whisper._

 _"What?! I didn't hear you!"_

 _"H-h-hello!" She tried, but it was only a slightly louder whisper. It'd been some time since she'd spoken in a normal volume in school._

 _The trio burst out laughing. "Look at her! She can't even talk!"_

 _"What goodbye-gift should we give her? Hm?"_

 _"Maybe a 'boyfriend'."_

 _Kiku's mind was instantly filled with horror; because 'a boyfriend', in their language, meant persuading someone to assault her, or even worse, to rape her. So far it was something that had avoided her, but she knew there was a girl who had transferred, because they'd found her a 'boyfriend' and then had made her look like the one who'd been responsible; who'd deserved being raped, because she had asked for it. Kiku prayed they'd change their minds. She wouldn't be able to live through something like that._

 _"Don't be disgusting, Ami. What boy would want to make a pass at **this?** "_

 _"Oh… You're right. Better not taint him." She smirked. "But what should we do…"_

 _"Doesn't her hair look too good for her?"_

 _They smirked and approached her, one of them pulled paper cutter knife._

 _Kiku's eyes went wide in fear and she was trembling._

The trio of bullies cut her hair. Her long and beautiful silky hair, which fell in waves down her back. The hair she used as a curtain behind which she could hide.

Her world shattered.

* * *

Kiku came to Touou, because there was no one from her junior-high. It didn't matter that she had to travel for almost an hour to get to and from the school every day. If she could remain anonymous, it was worth it.

The first day was stressful for her. She hoped to remain invisible.

Checking up which class she was in, however, meant fighting her way through a crowd of students. For someone as small and quiet as her, it was like a fight for survival. To top it, she was afraid of people.

In her trying she didn't look where the crowd pushed her, and she ended up running into someone.

The boy was huge, tall, and blonde and looked scary. "I-i-i-i'm s-s-s-sorry." She peeped, never looking into his face. Her voice probably didn't reach him and she was too scared to look up.

The boy barely noticed that someone bumped into him. Around announcement boards it was a mess each year. "Let's go Tada. We're in the same class again." He said and started to push his way through the crowd.

"Wait up, Kou!" The boy called after him.

 _Eh?_ She blinked. In her previous school, she would end up laying in the dust, and here, no one cared. No one saw her.

######

She sat on her chair, according to seating order, and didn't try to talk to anyone. She didn't even look at anyone in particular. Eye-contact might get her into trouble again. She didn't want to be alone, but at the same time, she didn't want to be bullied again.

In the last minute, a redheaded girl ran into the class and took the last vacant seat. Next to Kiku.

She observed the girl by the corner of her eye. The redhead was beautiful. The way she walked was like a dance, she radiated confidence – it was almost intimidating, and she had a sharp look in her reddish-brown eyes. Kiku envied the long red hair she had. She'd give anything to have such a hair again.

The girl noticed her stare and she turned to her immediately. A teacher wasn't there yet.

"Hey. I'm Kagami Aya, you?" She asked in a cheerful voice and her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm and energy. She wanted to know people, talk with them, socialise. She was a polar opposite of Kiku.

Kiku turned her head away and wanted to ignore Aya's greeting at first. It would be very rude of her. She peeked at Kagami-san again. She was afraid to speak with anyone. What if she would turn into a bully, like that time? What if she would embarrass her? Kiku didn't like overly loud people.

"Ah… H-h-h-hello." She greeted her back quietly and cursed herself for stuttering. Oh how much she hated that, but it was so difficult to get rid of it.

"What's your name?" Aya asked her curiously, surprised by the girl's shyness or was it fear?

"O-o-ohno K-kiku." Kiku squeezed out.

"Kiku? Like the flower? What a beautiful name."

Kagami-san's smile was bright and there was no ulterior motive behind it, but Kiku was sure that the girl could be pretty calculating if she wanted. There was no way she would speak with someone unknown just for the sake of talking. There was no way someone would speak with **_her_**.

Kiku nodded.

The teacher walked in and saved her from another conversation with her seatmate. Their homeroom teacher, Ueda-sensei took attendance, did some initial talking and then they went for opening ceremony.

Kiku avoided Kagami, because she didn't want to speak with her, or anyone. She didn't need friends. Despite that, she applied for a cooking club. Her parents insisted that she had to be a part of some club, so she complied.

But when the day ended, she went straight home.

######

"How was your first day, Kiku?" Her mom asked when she returned home.

"Fine. It was fine." She said quietly. At least at home she didn't stutter.

"Any friends?" She asked cheerfully.

Kiku's parents never learned about bullying. She didn't want them to worry and her father would definitely say something along the lines: _'You have to deal with it on your own. You are a strong girl.'_ She didn't want to disappoint him. And so, when she'd come home with short hair, she had lied. She'd said she had wanted a change, and a friend of hers cut it. At that point it was unimportant as the junior-high had ended.

"It's only been one day, mom. But I've joined a club."

"Kyudo?"

Kiku shook her head and took an apple they had on the table. "No mom. I'm bad at sports and you know it. I'm in cooking club."

"What are you saying, sweetie? You are awesome when it comes to Kyudo. You've been doing it since you were little, so why not?"

True. The only way how Kiku managed to stay sane and not loose herself completely, was doing Kyudo, archery. She needed to focus on the target, on form, on breathing; she had no time thinking about wrongs they had done to her. It was calming her down and it didn't involve much running around – where she would trip over her feet. And she'd never been in archery club before. With her glasses, they would only make fun of her, so why bother?

"We have our dojo where I can practise all I want. It would be waste to not try something else." At least she could come up with a clever answer.

Her mom chuckled. "You are right, sweetie. Oh, that reminds me. Could you take this to Akiya-san's orphanage? He should be there with father."

A trip to the orphanage required ten minute ride on a bike. Kiku was fine with a bike, she wouldn't trip over her feet and fall that way. "Sure. Maybe I'll stay there a bit and then I'll stop by the bookstore on my way back." She took a cake her mom had baked. She did it regularly every Monday for Akiya-san.

"Okay, sweetie. Buy whatever you want. And be careful."

"Thank you!" She waved her mom and left.

* * *

The next morning, she was standing near shoe lockers deciding whether to change into her indoor shoes or not. It was obligatory, but she feared she might not find her favourite black shoes once the day ended.

She was staring at it for so long, she forgot the time. When she looked at a clock, she tried to walk quickly into the classroom.

The quick walk turned into a run.

She ran up the stairs. At the top, she tripped and fell forward. Thankfully, no one was there to see it, so she got up, dusted off her skirt and continued on her way. The bell rang the moment she walked into the class.

No one paid attention to her and she was glad for it. She squeezed her bag tighter, as if it was her protective wall, and headed towards her seat. Once she would sit down, she would be invisible. She would be safe. _Hurry._ She thought.

Suddenly, she was falling. She didn't know how it had happened. Did someone trip her? It wouldn't be that surprising. She closed her eyes and readied herself for the impact. None came.

Chairs rattled.

Someone's arm was suddenly around her waist, balancing for a moment, then supporting her and stopping her fall.

"Are you okay?" A girly voice asked her, and she sprang upwards.

"Y-y-y-yes!" She was staring at the redhead in awe. No one would help her. Why did she? Why didn't she just let her fall and then laugh at her? That was the norm. But this girl. This girl had decided to help her. Naturally, out of reflex, she'd helped her. Kiku bowed down deeply. If this girl had a reflex to help, she couldn't be bad. "T-t-thank you, Kagami-san!" Her voice sounded strange; louder than usual. She wanted Kagami-san to hear her.

"It's nothing." Kagami-san was smiling at her, but then she looked at Kiku's feet. "You should tie your shoelaces though." She pointed out.

Kiku could feel blood rushing to her cheeks. She glanced at those traitors; they must have untied when she'd tripped on the stairs. It was so embarrassing. She bent down – barely avoiding her desk – to tie it.

"T-t-thank you again." She breathed out quietly when she got up.

The redhead chuckled. "No need to be so nervous, Ohno-san. I don't bite."

"Y-y-y-yes." She stammered, surprised that the girl bothered to remember her name. Then she sat down and put her bag in front of her, to hide behind it. She was blushing from embarrassment and shame. She shouldn't have lost her balance in the classroom. Now it might all start again…

######

"Kou! Wait up!" Tada Shun was running after his friend, who just wanted to be the first one in the gym.

"Then hurry up! We can't be late on the first day. I'm interested in the freshmen." He called back.

"Oh, come on! Why would you be interested in a bunch of first year boys? Nothing interesting there."

"There is someone from the generation of miracles! And I heard we'll have two managers. Not one but two." He said to his best friend. He knew Tada would be interested in the girls (the club hadn't had a manager in years), and wouldn't slow him down that way.

"Two managers? How come you knew that first?! Tcs."

Wakamatsu shrugged. "If you wanted to know first, you should've become the vice-captain, when Imayoshi-senpai asked you to."

Tada rolled his eyes. As if he didn't have enough responsibilities with his part-time job. "So? What else do you know?"

"Eh? Should I know something else?" He turned his questioning glance at his friend.

"Urgh… come on?! Are you not even slightly interested in those girls?"

"Why so? They are managers. Their job is to help the team. I'm interested in how well they can do it. That's it." He shrugged.

"It's the attitude…" Tada started to lecture him on how he would never get a girlfriend with this mindset, but Kousuke ignored it. Listening to it all the time was annoying. Especially because he knew Tada's different tastes.

After the introductions and all the talking, one of the managers, Kagami Aya, joined their mini matches. And they played till it was dark. Kousuke liked that they got at least one manager, who wasn't afraid of a little sweat and running. The girl seemed to know what she was doing, and what her job was. And he admired such people.

The other one, a pinkette, whose name he didn't remember, ran after Aomine the moment he bailed. That had annoyed him.

"So what do you think?" Shun asked him when they were walking home. They lived in the same apartment complex and so they'd known each other since forever.

"They are decent. Even with the girl-disadvantage, they were good."

"I was asking about Kagami-chan, stupid."

"Wha'? She is a good person." He shrugged. "I've never thought our coach had any family."

 _Is that the only thing he thinks about her?_ Tada shook his head in despair: Kou would definitely never find a girlfriend…. But he was too tired to give him another speech. "Well technically, they aren't blood related, but it was surprising. And she sure has guts. I mean, she played against Imayoshi-senpai."

"I'm so hungry." Wakamatsu prolonged his stride; hid growling stomach urging him home. Basic needs first, chit-chatting later.

Shun sighed. "What a simple guy." He muttered and adjusted his pace too.

* * *

To her surprise, no one laughed at her the next day. She was so nervous she felt sick in the morning, but no one came to hurt her. The boys that sat around her were already there. They were big, mostly Ishii Ryuu and Aomine Daiki. She was afraid of both, but mainly Aomine-san, who looked so annoyed all the time.

Kagami-san waltzed into the classroom with a coffee from the school's cafeteria and a bright smile on her face. It seemed that the boys didn't notice her.

"Mornin'." Aya greeted them. "Good to see you so lively, Kano-kun. I hope you did your stretches properly."

 _Oh, so his name is Kano._ It was probably the only name Kiku hadn't remembered the previous day. The boy had a humorous spark in his greenish eyes, and it seemed easy to talk with him. Not that Kiku had the courage to try it.

"Ah... Mornin' Kagami-chan. Nope..." Kano sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "I'm sore all over." He grunted. "I went to sleep right after getting home."

Aya sighed and put her bag on the desk saluting to Aomine, who didn't even glance at her, to approve of her arrival. And she didn't seem to care one bit. _What a thick skin…_ Kiku would probably feel down after such a treatment.

"And you, Sakurai-kun?" Aya asked.

The boy sitting in front of Aya, turned around a bit startled that she actually asked him something. "Y-y-yeah. I stretched properly."

 _So he is insecure around them too._ Kiku thought discreetly scanning Sakurai Ryou. He was plainly looking and stuttering just like her when caught by surprise. By his reaction she could tell he was slightly scared of Kagami-san.

"At last one of you is thinking." Aya shook her head at the two friends. "Improper stretching or lacking warm-ups usually lead to injuries. And sore muscles... Make sure not to omit it next time."

"You mean... you are not sore at all?" Kano blinked at Aya.

Aya's eyes twinkled playfully. "From what? It wasn't a real practise yesterday, just playing around."

"Huh?!" He threw his arms up. If that was not a real practise than what the hell was waiting for them in the afternoon?

Aya shook her head and gave him an explanation. "Senpais were just testing you. Don't tell me you didn't notice. Changing pace of the game often and forcing you into formations, or into playing positions you aren't used to. They wanted to see how well you can adapt. All of them are current regulars. And so far, Sakurai has the greatest chance out of the three of you, to become a regular soon." Then she took a slow sip from her coffee.

"Eh?" Sakurai stared at Aya wide-eyed. "But I missed so many shots. I'm sorry for that!" He added suddenly. And Kiku smiled softly at his apology, she would probably do the same.

"True, but you mostly missed the shots Tada-senpai forced you to shoot. And no one makes 100% of their shots anyways."

"Sorry! I'll get better next time! For sure!" He said quickly, almost biting his tongue.

Aya laughed. "Good motivation you have there." She encouraged him.

"What do you mean by the _three of you?_ " Ishii asked with narrowed eyes, already guessing the answer.

"Aomine is already considered a regular. He was recruited by the coach, and has a sports scholarship."

"Eh?" Kano couldn't believe it. So far he'd never heard about anyone good enough to have a sports scholarship. "You do?" He turned to Aomine, who was acting ignorant.

"Yeah. What of it?" He asked lazily. "Envious?"

Kano snorted. "As if!"

Aya just gave Aomine an unimpressed look, and turned to Ishii and Kano. "I want to see how well you'll work with Naito-kun being your PG. You were on the same team in the middle school, so you should be able to coordinate better with him, than you did with me." She changed the subject.

 _Huh? She plays too? She played with the boys?_ Kiku was surprised by this. She wanted to join the conversation. She wanted to talk with Kagami-san, but she had no opportunity to do so, with all the boys around them. The only way was to speak up…

"Hmmm... True, we are used to his passes." Ishii smiled.

 _You have to speak up..._ she told herself and tried to muster up the courage... Those two boys were scary. _You have to speak up…_ She repeated to herself. Then… "K-k-kagami-san. Y-y-you play b-basketball?" She asked with a trembling voice. Her voice was too quiet though. _She couldn't possibly hear me…_

But to Kiku's surprise, Aya smiled at her.

"Sure." She heard the girl's quiet voice and she could see how much inner struggle it must've cost her to speak up. She didn't know why, but she wanted to befriend this girl and to protect her from the day 1. "Although I'm a manager, I played with these guys yesterday, well, plus Oyama-kun from class 1-2. They missed one player for a proper game, so..." She deepened her explanation for Kiku to understand better.

"U-uhm..." Kiku didn't know what more to say. "T-t-that's great." She mumbled awkwardly. _Oh god, you are impossible Ohno Kiku… Impossible_

"Oh, and you are?" Ishii asked the girl with interest. He almost didn't notice the quiet girl at all. And she was sitting right in front of him.

Her eyes widened in surprise and she stared at him like a deer into headlights. Then she took a deep breath. _You have to speak._ "O-o-ohno K-kiku." She stumbled at her own name, her cheeks turning red.

"Nice to meet you, Ohno-chan. I'm Ishii Ryuu, these are Kano Hideki and Sakurai Ryou, well, and Aomine Daiki. We're all in the basketball club." He introduced all of them enthusiastically, trying to break the ice and help the shy girl a bit.

She nodded.

"So what club are you in?" Kano asked immediately. He was quick in making friends, and this little girl reminded him of his little sister a bit; though his little sister was one hell of a fighter with the loudest voice in the family.

"C-c-cooking."

"Oooh, so you can cook?! That's awesome!"

Kiku blushed at his praise and looked away.

"Were you already at the club assembly?" Aya asked curiously.

She shook her head. "T-t-there was n-none yet. W-w-we are supposed t-to m-meet n-n-next w-week."

"Will you bake something for us then?" Kano asked and his eyes were shining with expectancy.

"Uuhm…" Kiku didn't know how to react. No one had ever prepared her for this. Because of her junior high, she was now useless when it came to communicating with people.

As if understanding her silent plea, Aya chuckled. "It's cooking, not baking, and even if… Kiku isn't your personal cook, Kano-kun." She scolded him good-heartily. "I can bake something for you for now, but you have to practise **_and_** stretch properly."

"You can cook too?"

"Isn't that a skill everyone should have?" She mused. "But you have to earn my food."

 _Wow… She is amazing._ Kiku couldn't help but think that. She managed to help her out, and keep the conversation going. A timid smile appeared on her lips, just so it could be frozen by one of Aomine's judging stares. Those stormy blue eyes and his frown made Kiku uneasy and scared. _How can Kagami-san withstand it?_ She looked away and hid her face behind her fringe, or at least she tried to.

Thankfully, a teacher walked in and stopped the stare as well as the group's chatting. The classes started.

None of them seemed to be bad. Except Aomine-san. He was scary. Huge, grumpy, arrogant, and always frowning; extremely scary in Kiku's opinion. Thank gods he ignored her most of the time and she had no need to talk to him.

Thanks to her little burst of courage, she was now slowly mingling into the group of the basketball club members in her class. And it'd only been a few days. She couldn't describe how good it felt to not be alone. Then again, she feared someone might turn against her.

Kiku's world was changing rapidly, in a way she wasn't used to.

But now, when someone had noticed her, helped her and talked with her; she wanted friends! Therefore, she had to try more. She had to change! She wanted to change!

* * *

 **A/N:** I want to explore Kiku more, and even if I do copy some scenes from 'Would you dare?', I'm adding Kiku's thoughts so it's not identical. Originally I didn't want to copy it, but those were some important parts and if I just skip them, those not reading Aya's story might get confused.

I hope it's enjoyable (as it can be for the first chapter). This fic will be updated sporadically, I don't promise anything, but it will get finished one day.

Let me know what you think but remember, reviews are appreciated but never necessary.

-S.


	2. Chapter 2: Bookstore

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone who followed and favourited! Kiku's fic is probably going to take a lot more time than I wanted, but I have to go over 'Would you dare?' in order to follow its timeline. So a shorter chapter this time.

* * *

 _Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born. **– Anais Nin**_

 _Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten. ― **Neil Gaiman, Coraline**_

 _... a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge. **―** **George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones**_

* * *

"Eeeeh! You have girlfriend?!" Wakamatsu yelled in shock, everybody jumping at his sudden loudness. The first year, who'd just started the high-school had a girlfriend already?! While he, the senpai, had never received a simple love letter! That was unfair!

But Wakamatsu had to admit that Ishii Ryuu was rather handsome. He had black hair and dark eyes, he was tall and had firm, but lean muscles, to top it, he had an air of mystery surrounding him. The vice-captain wasn't great when it came to reading people, but he had a feeling that Ishii was a good person with some slyness.

Ishii flushed. "Keep it down, will ya?" He scolded his senpai in embarrassment, although there wasn't much to be embarrassed about. Gym was full of boys, and the only girls were Aya and Satsuki. The latter was too preoccupied by meeting all second and third years she hadn't met yesterday, and Aya was somewhat okay. Ishii didn't mind her knowing, because he considered her his friend.

"B-b-but!" Wakamatsu tried to add something, when Susa-senpai smacked the back of his head.

"Will you shut up for a while?" Susa asked with annoyed voice.

"But he is just a first year! And he already has a girlfriend!" Wakamatsu shouted; he felt aggrieved by the situation.

"What's so weird about it?" Aya asked him, suddenly appearing by his side, not quite understanding Wakamatsu's problem.

He turned to her and threw his arms into the air. "We are senpais! We are supposed to... Ehm!" _Oh…_ he just realized he was just talking with Kagami-san. A girl. They were used to not having girls around… And he was about to say 'We are supposed to be more experienced'… He scratched his slightly blushing cheek.

Susa elbowed him, but it was useless since he had stopped himself. "Shut up, before you embarrass yourself in front of our new manager... Or freak her out"

Something clicked in Aya's head, she grinned foxily and she just had to ask: "Does it mean you've never had a girlfriend, Wakamatsu-senpai?"

"Eeeh?" He jumped, taken aback by the girl's teasing. And by the fact that she guessed right. "W-w-why would you think that?! Of course I..." This time it was Tada, who elbowed him.

Tada smiled at Aya, and intervened, before helpless Kousuke could dig his own grave. "Well, it's not uncommon to not have girlfriends for those who have club activities. We don't have time for properly interacting with girls."

"Hmmm... And since girls usually don't interact with groups of big, scary, loud and sweaty guys..." She thought out loud, unintentionally (or intentionally?) stabbing everyone's heart.

"You said it out loud." Ishii whispered to her.

Aya eyed everyone's dejected eyes. "Crap!" She covered her mouth. "Soooryyy! I didn't mean it in the wrong way! I'm sure you'll all find wonderful girlfriends!"

Imayoshi laughed at her antics, Ishii joining him. And Wakamatsu was just staring at their new manager with indescribable expression, which was a mixture of awe, shock, disbelief and embarrassment.

The coach clapped his hands, shaking his head in exasperation. "Start warming up. Wakamatsu, take the lead!" He ordered.

That got him out of his shock. "OSSU! OKAY EVERYONE, LET'S DO THIS!"

"Urgh, do you have to be so loud?!" Tada rolled his eyes, but listened to every order Kousuke gave.

* * *

The class-rep told them their pairing. They were supposed to do all team work in those pairs, and sometimes their grades would depend on the other party. Kagami-san was paired up with Aomine-san. And Ishii-san with Kiku; at least that's how she understood it, but it wasn't sure yet.

"What about me?" Kiku asked stunned, when the class-rep ran away from Aomine and Aya. She didn't stutter this time.

"Honestly, I think you should be paired with Ishii. It'll be just fine. Go after Sugihara-kun, he seemed too intimidated to remain here any longer." Aya chuckled in amusement.

Kiku was okay with it; Ishii-san was kind and diligent. He was never once mean to Kagami-san or her; he only didn't like Aomine-san much. But now he'd ran after Sugihara-san to clear the pairing, and had left her behind.

Kiku blinked at her, and then got up. She needed to know who she ended up with! She wanted to run, but whenever she ran she tended to fall. So she just walked quickly. "Ishii-san! Wait up." She called after him, but her voice was too quiet – she feared shouting too much.

If she wanted to catch up… Maybe she wouldn't fall in this long straight corridor.

And so she started to sprint after them.

"Ishii-san!" She tried it again.

They turned around the corner, and it seemed that Ishii-san caught up with the class-rep. So she went there.

It was only few more steps. She was still standing. She turned around the corner, and "Ufff!" her face collided with something solid and she landed on her butt.

"Urgh." Wakamatsu grumbled and blinked at the small girl at his feet. She had short hair and her face was hidden behind thick-framed glasses. She wasn't really looking at him, and her cheeks flushed red in embarrassment. _Is she okay?_ "Are you –"

She didn't let him finish his question.

"S-s-s-sorry." She stuttered feeling mortified. Her eyes closed shut and she expected some mocking from the huge second year; as his indoor shoes indicated – it was also the only thing she noticed about him.

"Ohno-chan! You okay?" Ishii's voice came from behind Wakamatsu before he could pull her up.

She nodded, and got up staring at the ground.

"I talked with Sugihara, and we are paired together." Ishii assured her. "So… please take a good care of me."

"Eh?" She looked at Ishii's grinning face as he gave her thumbs up. A small smile appeared on her face. "T-t-thank you." She bowed and left. _God that was embarrassing._ She wanted to quickly forget about it.

"What are you doing here, senpai?" Ishii turned his eyes to vice-captain.

"Err…" He scratched the back of his neck; he had a task to do. "I'm distributing additional forms; you need to take it to your parents. It's agreement with practise matches, training camps, possible injuries and so on. There'll be more paperwork with every single training camp but…" He shrugged and waved with the papers. That's how it went.

"Oh. And I wondered what you were doing on our floor." Each year had its own floor, so it wasn't usual for them to meet unless they'd agreed to it previously. "I can distribute it for you if you want." He offered himself.

"Good, thanks man." He gladly handed his task over. It was strange for him to enter first or third years' classrooms. They'd all just stare at him as if he was some kind of an alien.

######

"I heard you ran over some poor first year girl, Kou." Shun teased him after practise. Ishii had told him the story: the word got around quickly within a club.

"I didn't." He huffed and buttoned up his shirt. "It's her, who ran into me. It's not my fault she fell on her butt."

"Well, it might be the nice start of a love story, don't you think?" Shoda Yori, from their class, joined in. He knew how hopeless Wakamatsu was and teasing the big guy was always fun. Everyone who was still in the changing room chuckled.

"What?!" Kou spat out.

"But you do want a girlfriend no? You almost said you had one, just to look good – senpai." Yamaoka mocked him.

"I've never –" He started to defend himself, because despite being on one team with him, he didn't vibe well with the third year.

"Yesterday." Imayoshi pointed out exasperatedly. "It was yesterday."

Kousuke blushed and averted his eyes. Then he grumbled something incoherent. "… That's ridiculous." He finally said and left. The girl didn't even look at him. No girl ever looked at **_him_**.

Or that's what he believed.

* * *

"Kiku!" Aya called after her on a Friday afternoon. The girl used Kiku's given name from the day one. Maybe it was because she just liked Kiku's name, as she had said, but for Kiku, it felt strange.

She stopped by shoe lockers and waited for her, because unlike Kagami-san, she was heading home.

"What do you say about going somewhere during the weekend with me?" She asked her enthusiastically.

Kiku fidgeted. Was it okay? "I-i-i don't k-know, Kagami-san."

"I told you already. Please, call me Aya. That's my name."

Her reddish eyes were staring deeply into Kiku's, searching for something. Kiku felt uncomfortable under the gaze, like the girl could read her mind and see right through her. She looked away.

"Please, Kiku. I want to be your friend." Aya said finally. It wasn't whining, no, her tone was serious. "I want to know you."

Aya was bold, but Kiku kind of liked that. At least she knew that the girl would be straightforward with her, like she was with the others. No backstabbing. Maybe she should go, still...

"W-w-why? I'm not special." She said quietly and Aya smiled.

"On the contrary…" Then she shook her head. "Let's just say you are not gossipy or naïve. And I appreciate that."

Kiku bit her lower lip as she thought about it. "Uhm… W-where do you want to m-meet?"

"I don't know any fun places yet, I just recently returned from America, so choose wherever you'd like to go."

 _A-a-america?!_ "…B-b-bookstore?" She peeped. "T-they h-have coffee there…"

Aye's smile widened and her eyes sparkled. "That'd be awesome! I haven't read a book in Japanese for years! So Saturday at three PM, is that okay with you?"

Kiku nodded. She didn't have the opportunity to change it or reject it. She had nothing to do either way… That was how convincing Kagami-san could be. They exchanged numbers, and Kiku gave her the address of the shop. After that Aya ran for their practise.

Kiku stared after the girl for a moment and then she went home.

######

 _Thud. Thud. Thud._

She was shooting one arrow after another. She didn't bother with traditional clothes or asymmetric bow or her technique. Instead, she was in her uniform, and she took a Mongolian recurve bow, she just recently discovered and tried out. It was an intriguing weapon. She was fast, but her precision with this bow was still off. She hadn't trained enough with it to be both, fast and precise.

"You mind is preoccupied. You are not thinking about hitting the target at all." Her older brother pointed out after he'd watched her for a moment. He decided to stop by and greet them, because he was barely ever at home. He had just finished a university and started a new, full-time job.

"Ryuu-nii-san." She greeted him with a nod.

He was the only person who knew about the bullying. And he knew that when she was mindlessly shooting at the target, there was something bothering her, but it wasn't yet that serious. Because when things got serious, she would be all about proper technique and breathing.

"What happened?"

Kiku sighed and lowered her bow. For a moment she stared at the 15 arrows sticking from the hay target. They were randomly spread around in the target, not one of them was in the middle. She approached it to pull them all out.

"A classmate asked me to hang out with her tomorrow." She said.

"That's good, isn't it?" His eyebrow quirked upwards. This news was definitely better than bullying.

"I don't know."

"Is she a bad person?"

"No!" She reacted immediately. "Of course not. It's just…" Kiku returned to his side and sat down, her legs hanging from a wooden porch in their traditional dojo. "She might not like me."

"What's there not to like, hm?" He asked and ruffled her, now short, hair. "It'll be fine. And next time, you can bring her over and introduce her to us."

* * *

"Hello!" Aya greeted her, when she arrived five minutes earlier. "I hope you didn't wait too long."

"H-hello. N-no. I-I-I've just a-arrived." She said. Truthfully, she had arrived twenty minutes earlier, and she'd thought Kagami-san wouldn't show up at all. Who would? But she hoped, and so she was there.

"I'm happy to see you. Please, lead the way." Aya smiled at her encouragingly.

Kiku nodded and pulled at a strap of her bag.

They walked in silence. It made Kiku feel uncomfortable, but whenever she glanced up, Kagami-san had a content smile on her face as she was looking all around her. "I've never been in this part of the city. It's so cosy here!" She explained when she noticed Kiku's curious glances.

"H-here." Kiku pointed at a bookstore and opened the door for Kagami-san.

"Thank you very much." Aya smiled and walked in.

A scent of books and freshly brewed coffee invaded her nose. The place was small, but packed with tons of books and currently empty, except two people going through some books and the owner, who was sitting at a counter sipping from his coffee. There were four small round tables near four narrow windows, each providing a view onto the street. Each table had two or three soft armchairs and was surrounded by books.

When the owner spotted Kiku he waved at her. "Kiku-san! Welcome. How nice to see you here with a friend! I have the book you asked for."

 _Oh?_ Aya stared at the owner with a smile. "Hello."

"Oh, how rude of me. Hello! I'm Arami Ken, the owner."

Aya chuckled. "Kagami Aya, the friend."

"What books do you read, Aya-san?" He immediately called her by her name, and wanted to know her. She was a possible customer, so he wanted to treat her well, and she seemed to be a girl who wouldn't mind.

"Almost everything as long as it catches my interest. I like intelligent, witty and funny books, I'm not into romances much, I like fantasy, adventure or detective stories more. I don't mind non-fiction either. The list goes on. But I'm not a diligent reader, Arami-san." She shrugged and thought about a pile of books she had bought and which were waiting to be read. Right now she didn't have much time for it.

"Every reader is explorer of new worlds! Diligent or not. Please, have a seat!" He offered them a table in a corner – Kiku's favourite – from where they could watch people passing by the store or other customers in it, without being noticed much. "I'll make you some coffee and bring some biscuits."

"That would be very nice, thank you."

"Uhm…" Kiku felt embarrassed by the owner's behaviour. He was overly familiar with Kagami-san and she sure felt uncomfortable.

"He is a good person, I'd say." She smiled. "Do you come here often?"

Kiku nodded. Yes, she came here often. And Aya's good first impression of Arami-san made Kiku happy.

Arami-san brought them steaming coffee with creamer and a small bowl of biscuits. He chatted some with Aya, and then he disappeared in a back room to take a nap. The two customers had left and no one except the girls was there and he trusted that Kiku would keep an eye on things for him.

"What book did he order for you?"Aya asked curiously when Arami-san left.

"…" She was reluctant to answer; it was embarrassing, because the books someone read could tell a lot about them.

"Please, tell me. I won't make fun of it. Promise. And then I'll tell you something about what I've read too. You'll laugh at me."

Kiku was staring into those reddish-brown eyes, which seemed like shining rubies in a dim light of their corner of the bookstore. Rubies should be cold, but all she could see was warmth, acceptance and patience. It made her feel at ease, because this kind of look couldn't be artificial. Aya was staring back at her with calm confidence, and encouragement; like she was offering Kiku the confidence she lacked.

"T-the t-t-title is called… W-when the music stops." Kiku nodded for herself encouraged by Aya's presence and cleared her throat to talk more about the book. "It's about a girl who is a great dancer, but then she gets sick and becomes deaf. It's about how she overcomes it, with the help of her family and friends, and she'll even find a boyfriend…" When Kiku talked about books, she usually didn't stutter. It was something she loved, after all.

Hearing the summary of the book, Aya got interested in it. As a dancer, she could relate. Becoming deaf as well as any permanent injury was the worst nightmare of any dancer. "Could I borrow it when you finish it?" Aya asked. She would definitely read this one.

"Eh?" Kiku blinked at her. "Do you like the story?"

"I'm a dancer. I love dancing, so let's say I can relate." She smiled. _And I'm interested in how the author managed..._

"B-but you're in the basketball club."

"I grew up loving both, dancing and basketball. And there is no dancing club in Touou, so I go to another club in evenings." She explained.

"O-o-oh." She sipped from her creamed coffee and took a small bite from a biscuit.

Aya had to smile. Her explanation made Kiku think about it, but unsure of what to ask, or if it was alright to ask. _Let's change a topic then._ "Anyways... The last book I've read was actually a manual how to become a lazy mother." She chuckled. "I found those example stories about children hilarious, so I've read it during our flight to Japan. Since then I haven't had any time to indulge into a good book."

"T-that's… unusual…" _For fifteen year old…_

"Laugh all you want, but it was so funny and enjoyable! I loved every page of the book. There was a lot of truth in it too. Even things our mom did, or didn't do. For example, we were never forced to go to bed on set times. When we were tired we slept, she never forced us to obey. Or when we refused to eat something… She let us go, but when we were hungry there was nothing else…" She was smiling when she was remembering her mother.

 _We?_ "D-do you have a sibling, Kagami-san?"

"Oh please! Call me Aya." She insisted. "I have a twin brother, and when we were in a pre-school and elementary, everyone called us both 'Kagami', or "Kagami 1." and "Kagami 2." to make fun of us too, it was confusing. So please, call me Aya, okay?"

Kiku was surprised by the openness of the girl. She just nodded. She could try; Aya would be the first non-family-person she'd call by their name.

They talked more about books, their siblings, or it was mostly Kagami-san who made the conversation flow, but Kiku was slowly getting used to her. When they were leaving, Kagami-san bought a recommended book, hoping she would read it, and accompanied Kiku to her bus station, only after that she headed home herself.

For Kiku it was the best afternoon in the past three years. She finally spent some time with her schoolmate, who wasn't judging her, who patiently waited until she answered, and who didn't mind her quiet voice, or stuttering. She liked Aya-san, and the way in which the sunshine girl dealt with the world.

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope you liked it. This chapter was cozy, and Kiku is slowly starting to trust Aya. It's gonna take some more chapters until Kiku actually talks to Wakamatsu at all. It's a slow burn, and I have no idea when a next chapter will be done. So... have patience with me.

Let me know what you think, but remember, reviews are appreciated but never necessary.

-S.


	3. Chapter 3: Friends

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone who followed, favourited and reviewed. It makes me very happy. I'm sorry I don't update this story regularly...

Also, horizontal lines separate days, while '####' separate different events of one day.

* * *

 _A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down. **– Arnold H. Glasow**_

 _Scared is what you're feeling. Brave is what you're doing. **― Emma Donoghue, Room**_

 _Just like there's always time for pain, there's always time for healing. ― **Jennifer Brown, Hate List**_

* * *

Wakamatsu walked into a small convenience store near their apartment building. He wanted to buy some junk food he'd craved while watching movies. And he wanted to get away from his little brother, who was currently down with a nasty cold.

"Yo!" He greeted Shun, when he spotted him sitting behind a counter. "I thought it might be your shift."

"Hey. Payment is good during weekends." Shun smiled, and then eyed Wakamatsu's purchase. "Buying junk food again, I see."

"I use up all the energy anyways, so what does it matter?" He shrugged. "Sorry I couldn't stay over practise yesterday, but I had to be with Yuuta. He was running a fever, and our parents were working…"

"That's okay. I think everyone would understand, that family comes first, even if you ditched practise. Is Yuuta doing better?" Tada was worried too, because Yuuta was like his younger brother as well. Tada and Wakamatsu grew up together like siblings, so Yuuta joining the siblings' circle was only natural.

"His fever went down, finally, and he is sleeping, so I went out to get some air. And snacks. Did anything interesting happen yesterday?"

"Not in particular. Almost everyone went home, and I stayed longer with Imayoshi, Susa, Yamaoka and Aya-san."

"Didn't Aya-san leave with Momoi-san?"

"She came back because she had forgotten her wallet. And so she stayed a bit longer with us then." He said casually, but he felt conflicted about it. He wasn't lying, not exactly, but… He wasn't happy that he withheld the 'zone match' against Aomine, which had taken place, from Kousuke.

As the vice-captain he probably should have been informed, but those who had been there decided to keep it a secret from the rest of the team; hoping that Aya would do the same. Shun felt it wasn't fair, but he wouldn't go against their captain.

* * *

"Today I'll measure your time while running. Distances will be 50m, 100m and 450m. Please get ready." Umaki-sensei, the P.E. teacher, said.

Kiku paled. P.E. was the worst. She hated that class. Because of her clumsiness, she was useless in sports, and when she had to run, she often tripped over own feet. Her stamina in running was terrible too. Her legs weren't made for this activity. When it came to shooting arrows, she could go on for hours; she could hold a stretched bow for hours too. But running? A nightmare.

If it weren't enough, they were joined with the class 1-4; even more people would get to see her uselessness.

In the first, 50m run, she was set to run as the last and they had to repeat it five times. She tripped, during her first run, but managed to stay on her feet. Fell on her knees during the second. And spread herself flat on the ground during the last, because she tripped over her own feet. _Humiliating._ She thought with tears burning in her eyes.

She was wondering if it was worth it to stand up and finish the dash. Her timing was the worst of them all anyways, and she could hear whispers like: _'Ugly face', 'Disgusting', 'Useless', 'How embarrassing'_ that were cutting deep.

"Get up and finish it, Kiku!" Aya's bright voice cut through the air. "You can do it!"

The best girl in sports from their class was encouraging _her?_ Kiku had hard time believing it. She knew that Aya-san was a good person, kind. Heck, she went out with her during the weekend, but… But… What if Aya-san would turn against her suddenly? What then? Despite this, Aya's words felt warm.

 _You might as well get up, you useless lump._ She growled inwardly and with a huge self-denial, she got up, and finished the fifth 50m dash. With the worst timing whatsoever, but she finished it.

"See? It's not that bad." Aya patted her shoulder. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

Kiku just shook her head and looked at her feet. She wasn't hurt. Not physically at least. But those comments…

"Would you shut up?" Aya turned at some girls from class 1-4, who were laughing at Kiku's poor performance. "She tried her best."

"A-a-aya-san… d-don't…" Kiku pulled at the hem of Aya's shirt, to hush the flamboyant girl. "I-it's okay."

"Hell it isn't." The redhead spat out in disgust, but she quietened her voice, to not disturb Kiku anymore. "They have no right to talk about you like that."

Aya-san had the best timing of them all, so Kiku was genuinely surprised when the girl spoke up to defend her. In her opinion Aya-san should have been the first one laughing. _What the hell? You know that Aya-san is not that kind of a person. Stop doubting her._

The next 100m dash was just as terrible as the previous ones. But this time, Aya-san asked the teacher to run with Kiku. At first, Kiku thought that it was it. Running together with the best girl would embarrass her even more. Then, her doubts about Aya-san would've been right. She didn't want that.

To her surprise, Aya wasn't trying to have the best timing. The girl didn't let her in dust. On the contrary, she adjusted her pace to Kiku's and every time Kiku fell, Aya pulled her up, and encouraged her. It wasn't pity.

Aya didn't pity her. She knew the small girl could do it. She never helped Kiku when she stumbled as long as Kiku didn't fall – only then did Aya help her up.

The teacher wanted to persuade Aya to run again, 'without a baggage', which only made Aya glare at the teacher and refuse with: 'This timing is fine too.'

The last and the longest dash was the worst. Kiku's lungs were burning, her face was red from effort, she was sweating a lot, and tears of both embarrassment but also happiness were burning in her eyes, never flowing out. God, she just wanted to disappear. But Aya-san was by her side, believing in her. She could feel it, and so she wanted to finish this stupid race, because there was a helping hand, a friend, and she would be stupid if she pushed that away.

######

Kiku was standing in front of the cooking club's kitchen. Today was their first meeting, and everyone was expected to show up. And Kiku was three minutes late. She took a deep breath. _No one knows you._ She repeated those words in her head.

She opened the door and suddenly she felt all eyes on her. It wasn't the truth, but that's how she imagined it. Then she looked around curiously and re-evaluated the situation.

Some of the members quickly eyed the short girl with glasses, but they didn't particularly care about her. The third and second years' already knew each other, so they were discussing about plans for the club and a new supervisor who was about to come. The first years' didn't know each other much, so they just stood around awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

 _If Kagami-san was here, she would definitely start a conversation._ Kiku thought, when she walked towards one working table, which was at the very corner of the big cooking classroom.

From her spot, she could quietly observe. There was only 10 people altogether, 11 included Kiku. Four of them were from the first year, three from the third year and four the second year. The new supervisor wasn't there yet.

"Hello." Boyish voice suddenly echoed next to her, and she startled.

"Y-y-yes?!" She turned around to face him with wide eyes.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." He smiled, and his expression turned sheepish. "I'm Imai Hibiki. From class 1-4." He introduced himself.

He was taller than Kiku, but with her 155cm, almost everyone seemed taller. Imai was skinny, and unbelievably pale. Compared to Kagami-san, he looked like a ghost. Thanks to his black hair, his fair skin stood out even more. Despite that he had a nice face with deep, dark grey eyes. His nose was sharp and jaw angular. But overall he gave out a feeling of weakness and submission.

 _Do I look like that too?_ Kiku stared at him a bit horrified, because he looked like an ideal target for bullying, and she was the one bullied, not a bully. And yet, he was talking so smoothly to someone he didn't know. It made Kiku think poorly about herself.

"Ah…" She let out her breath, when she noticed Imai started to fidget. "I-I-I'm Ohno K-kiku. Class 1-3." She introduced herself and bowed. _Idiot._ She cursed herself for stuttering.

"Uhm… So, you are in class with Kagami Aya?"

"Y-yes. Why?"

"Just curious. Is she really that fierce?" He asked with faint blush, feeling embarrassed. Though the redhead didn't realize it, almost all first years knew her name. Imai had noticed her during the opening ceremony, where she had been sitting three seats away from him. And he couldn't think of any better topic to start a conversation.

Kiku's eyebrow went up. She was stunned by the question and even more by the boy's reaction. _Seriously?_ _He likes Kagami-san? And fierce? Well… maybe yes…_ Even Kiku could say that cheerful Kagami-san was completely impossible for this gloomy person. Though she sure sympathised with him.

She nodded.

"Are you her friend?" He asked in hopeful voice.

 _None of your business._ Kiku sighed inwardly. "W-Why did you come to talk to me?" She asked instead of answering; her confidence was slightly boosted by her annoyance.

The boy blushed even more. "Ah… You seemed to be a nice person." He said.

"Uhm…" She wanted to say something, when their supervisor walked in and all voices quieted.

"Hello everyone!" A plump woman carried herself to the middle of the classroom. "My name is Abe Hiroko, and I work as a chef in one restaurant – I won't tell you which yet. And I'll be supervising this club. My trial period is this one semester and I hope I'll remain teaching promising new cooks!" She rambled out cheerfully and loudly.

Abe was eyeing all of her students. She was warned there wouldn't be many, but she considered 11 as a very good sample. After she had almost overworked herself to death, she was given half a year of paid vacation, to help her regain her calm and strength. Then she would have to decide to either continue with her work, or quit and do something else. Proposal to lead a cooking club was like a lightning strike out of nowhere, but it gave her something to do with the free time she now had. And maybe… If she came to like it, she might stay.

Kiku was observing her. Abe-sensei had a wide and kind smile, but her eyes were unbelievably tired. The aura Abe-sensei had was warm and welcoming; it reminded Kiku a bit of her mother. _This club was a good choice._

"Now. Everyone please come to me and introduce yourselves! Then I'll pair you up and you will work in those pairs for the whole semester. Well… given your odd number, there will one group with three members."

"Are you going to pair us up? We can't choose?" One girl from the third year asked in surprise. This one was new…

"Yes. I'll pair you up randomly; I have a rather good judgement when it comes to this. If I decide I can change it during the semester. And you are?"

"Tsubaki Airi." She said and bowed.

Soon, all 11 students introduced. They only had three boys, which in itself was a miracle, as boys didn't usually take up a cooking club.

Kiku and Imai being the last ones. Abe stared at them a bit longer than at others, maybe it was because they were the last ones to introduce, or maybe because she had an urge to protect those two fragile looking teenagers. Then she decided.

"Ohno-chan. You'll be paired with Wada-chan. And Imai-kun will be paired with Suzuki-chan. As for others…"

But Kiku wasn't listening anymore. She looked at the second year girl she was supposed to cooperate with. What was it in this school that they had to have partners almost everywhere? She could do fine on her own. Or maybe with Imai-kun…

Wada Misaki was even shorter than Kiku and plump. She wasn't fat, but she looked like she enjoyed food in general. Her face was round, with warm brown eyes and she was smiling at Kiku. When Kiku didn't do anything the second year decided to approach her, thinking that the girl was probably shy.

"Hello. I'm Wada Misaki. Please take care of me during this semester."

Kiku blinked. "Ah… R-r-right. Yes! I-I'm Ohno Kiku." She blurted out, embarrassed that she hadn't gone to greet the senpai first. "T-ta-take care of m-me as w-well."

Misaki chuckled. "Don't need to be so nervous. I won't eat you… Though I might look like it." She joked about her appearance with ease.

"N-n-no. Y-you don't… Ah… I-I'm sorry." Kiku bowed. "I-i-i d-didn't mean to…"

"Hahaha. you are so funny, Ohno-chan. It's okay, okay. I'm plump, I know. But I would never trust a skinny chef!"

"Well said, my dear student!" Abe-sensei patted Misaki shoulder and laughed too. "If anyone in this club has problem with appearances or bullying please leave now. Otherwise I'll think of you lot as my children, but I'm a strict mom, and I expect the same mindset from you."

Kiku couldn't believe the words she heard. What in the world? She chose this club, to please her mother, to show that she had friends… Or to act as if she had friends. And now she had real friends from basketball club, and even cooking club was supposed to be a friendly, cosy, family-like place? _The life is playing tricks on me…_ Or maybe it was just getting better.

Everyone nodded. Tsubaki-senpai was reluctant at first, but she had nothing to lose by befriending couple of freshmen, and outside of clubs and school events, students from different years rarely interacted.

"I'm glad to see no one leaving. This was only an assembly meeting. We will be meeting here every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, we will cook one dish, from any cuisine we choose. I'm opened to any ideas and suggestions. I want to see you experiment, taste, and play with flavours…" She loved cooking from the bottom of her heart, and the students could feel it too. This new supervisor was a great person. "Anyways. I hope you'll learn a lot and grow a lot. That's all for today, thank you for coming. You can go, see you tomorrow."

* * *

"Before we start with warm up, we need to have everyone's measurements taken." Imayoshi announced.

The boys started whispering and discussing, as if they didn't know what was going on. Imayoshi, Wakamatsu and Tada exchanged glances and rolled their eyes. Those three had been basically leading Touou' basketball club and dealing with everything when they hadn't had managers. They were still the leading trio, but this time they had two managers to help them.

"Take your t-shirts off everyone!" Wakamatsu shouted the order. "Aya-san will take our measurements for our new jerseys or some adjustments for those who didn't grow that much…!"

"Please line up!" Aya caught on quickly, before the boys could stress themselves too much. "I don't bite!" She added, when the first one standing in the line almost took a step back when she approached him.

"Most of the time~" Imayoshi added in teasing whisper, so only the two vice-captains would hear. He considered Tada as a vice-captain too, because the boy had been his first choice…

"At least this year it's not me who has to do it…" Wakamatsu mumbled.

"Yeah, this year they feel awkward because of a girl and not you." Tada teased in hushed voice as well. He knew how awkward his best friend must have felt, when he had had to do this in his first year in Touou.

Imayoshi chuckled. "And you two will be just as embarrassed as everyone else."

"Don't be mean captain, it's not like you have a girlfriend." Shun retorted.

"Doesn't mean I'm totally inexperienced~"

"Well me too, but Kou…"

"Would you two stop it!?"

"Stop what? Discussing something interesting?" Aya asked when she was measuring poor Sakurai standing next to them.

"That we should find Kousuke a girl..." Shun shrugged with a smile.

"Are you sure it's a good idea, Tada-senpai?" She asked absentmindedly, scribbling down Sakurai's numbers. "Any preference for a jersey number?" She asked the shy boy.

"Sorry, I didn't think about it! Sorry!" He bowed.

"No need to apologise… So whatever is okay?"

He nodded, and Aya moved on to Wakamatsu. She stopped and stared at Wakamatsu's bare torso for a moment. _He has almost the same built as Taiga._ She thought.

"So?" She asked Shun, and started measuring Wakamatsu, who flinched when her fingers brushed his bare skin.

"Why not?" Shun shrugged "He'd need someone nice and caring."

"Someone he could save~" Imayoshi added. "Can you think of anyone, Aya-san~?"

Wakamatsu's cheeks reddened in embarrassment. Like it wasn't enough that he was standing half-naked in front of Aya-san, the captain just had to go ask **_that_**!

"Would you stop it?! Seriously!" He shouted at them.

Aya laughed. "They are just teasing you, senpai."

"Keh… I wouldn't believe it. They are sly foxes."

"Actually… I might have someone in mind~" She winked at Imayoshi, and Wakamatsu grumbled in annoyance.

"Who might that be~?"

"Won't say. It's just an idea…" She said mysteriously. She thought of Kiku, but the girl was just too shy and quiet; she totally wouldn't be able to handle someone like Wakamatsu. At least for the time being. And Aya wasn't going to try and push them together. But… But what if? What if Wakamatsu could help Kiku with her shyness? What if Kiku was just the right person to calm Wakamatsu down?

######

Aya sighed and put her bag down.

"Is there something wrong?" Kiku looked up from the book she was currently reading. It was unusual for overly energetic Aya to sigh in that way. _Did something happen?_

Kiku was feeling better around the redhead. The day in the bookstore and the yesterday's help made her become fond of Aya. She liked her and she really wanted them to be friends. Despite the fact that they were completely different, but it didn't matter to Kiku, this was what she probably needed right now.

She was good at reading people – she was afraid of them, hence she was noticing all the details she could – and she noticed that Aya-san was keeping masks. Not always, but they were there. Kiku was wondering if there would be a day when the masks would come off… Off both of their faces.

"Not really." Aya said with a half smile. She was thinking about Wakamatsu and Kiku as a pair, and at the same time, she was thinking about the two girls she had overheard badmouthing Kiku the previous day – and of course she had given them a piece of her mind. She was praying they wouldn't do anything to Kiku. And she didn't want Kiku to know about any of this.

But Kiku could feel that something had happened and the redhead just didn't want to make her worry.

She decided to change the topic. "Where are the boys? You usually come together."

"They were taking too long in the changing room. So I didn't wait." She shrugged and pulled out her Math book for the first class. "What are you reading?" The usual cheerfulness returned into Aya's voice when she smiled. It was always like that with her.

"It's a light romance from Arakaki-sensei. It seemed interesting. Story is about a girl who was scared of love and a boy who swore to show her that it's not as scary as she thought. I'm still at the beginning so I don't really know whether I like it or not." Kiku summed it up.

Aya turned her reddish eyes towards the window and thought about it for a moment, before she spoke up: "Hmmm... Well, love is kinda scary. Don't you think?"

Kiku averted her eyes and her cheeks flushed. She wasn't confident in talking about everything yet. Definitely not love matters. "H-h-how should I know? All I ever done was read about it."

"I don't think that's wrong in any way." Aya wanted to add something, but boys returned and interrupted them with a loud "Yo!"

* * *

Kiku came to school earlier than usually; she needed to finish her math homework. When she opened her shoe locker, several papers fell out. Her heart sank and she bit her lower lip.

 _Not again..._ She was fighting tears.

She was well aware that she was not the prettiest being on earth. She was clumsy. She was stuttering... She knew there were always those who found her annoying, ugly, unworthy... But it hurt. It hurt so damn much to be reminded of it every single day. And there she started thinking her choice of school was lucky.

This was a reality check.

If they only left her alone... She was fine alone.

She didn't want to read it, and yet. The words written on the papers screamed out.

 **'Ugly-duckling.'**

 **'Just go away. You are so annoying.'**

 **'Stop trying.'**

 _Stop trying what?..._ The papers were crumpled and thrown away.

Kiku was dragging her feet to the class, where she had to finish a homework she hadn't done before. School wasn't a place she enjoyed. Ever since middle school, she was always picked on. Always alone. She had expected it would be the same in high-school.

But boys from basketball club were trying to talk to her thanks to Aya, and cooking club seemed to be fun. And Kiku was not as alone as before. She decided. Those notes would not disturb her. She wouldn't tell anyone about it.

Friendship was still a new concept to Kiku, she was grateful for it and she didn't want to screw up.

######

"Ne, ne?" Kano stopped by Kiku's desk around lunch. "Can we call you 'Kiku-chan'?" He asked pointing at him and Ishii.

"Uhm… O-o-okay?" She asked hesitantly instead of answering.

He tilted his head in confusion. "Are you asking, or are you giving us permission?"

"Ah… Uhm…" She fiddled with the hem of her blazer and looked everywhere, but the boys. She hoped her glasses would hide her. Aya-san wasn't there to save her this time.

"And why would you want to call her that?" Sakurai peeped up. He could relate to the little girl. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to…" He added immediately when Kano turned his curious stare at him.

"Becaaaause… She has such a nice name that fits her… Hmmm…" He rubbed his chin. "But if it's rude, just say so."

Kiku was blinking at him in disbelief. Aya-san had mentioned that she liked her name before, but to think the boys would think so too… "Uhm… I… I don't mind…" She said quietly, almost in a whisper.

"Really?!" Kano exclaimed loudly, wide grin spreading on his face. "That's awesome! You can call us whatever, we don't really care."

She nodded and felt a small smile creep onto her lips as well.

######

She was heading towards the cooking club, where Wada-senpai was trying to befriend her as well. It made Kiku wonder what was so interesting about her. She was feeling down because of the notes, so she was looking at her feet. Then again, she was a bit happy because of Kano, and his nice comment, though she still felt insecure around the loud people.

Wakamatsu was hurrying for practise. He got held up by the disciplinary committee, because of some idiot who decided to smoke in the boys' bathroom.

"As a vice-captain I shouldn't be late…" He was muttering to himself. "And because of such a scum. Geh…"

When he turned around the corner he bumped into someone. His arm shot out to stabilize the small person, but he was too preoccupied by his thoughts to look at her.

"Sorry!" He shouted, and continued on his way, never looking back.

Kiku was staring after the brash second year in stunned silence. Why was she always bumping into this guy? Who was he even? That was ridiculous.

######

"Kou! Where've you been?" Shun asked Wakamatsu when he ran into the changing room.

"Committee drama. Sorry!" He said with an eye roll and proceeded to change his clothes. "Where is Aomine-bastard?"

"Surprisingly… In the gym already."

Wakamatsu blinked at his friend and then… "WHAT?! He is here?! Seriously?!"

"Don't yell in my ear, Kousuke!" He scolded him with a nasty glare. "You think that Aya-san winning that race has something to do with it?"

"I'd bet it does!"

"But she went away… I wonder if Aomine stays when he learns that."

"Oh he will." Wakamatsu said, determination burning in his eyes. "Let's go, so he won't have a chance to run away."

"You've changed already?"

"Sure. Something wrong about it?"

"N-no…" _Heck, he was quick…_

######

It was late evening already, past dinner. And Kiku came to the kitchen to have some tea and biscuits, before she went to sleep.

"You seem to be in deep thoughts, Kiku-dear." Her mom, Sora, said with a smile as she set a cup of steaming tea in front of her daughter.

Ever since Kiku had arrived home, she'd been absent minded. She had gone to shoot some arrows, as usual, she had done her homework, she had read a book… or had tried to read a book, but couldn't focus…

"I-is it normal to bump into one and the same person almost on daily basis?" She asked frowning, and staring into the cup.

"Daily basis?"

"Well no… Three times. It's been three times now." She said and the wrinkle on her forehead deepened.

"Who is the person?" Sora asked curiously, because her daughter rarely talked about school on her own.

"I don't really know. I've never really looked at him, and I suppose he's never looked at me either. We just keep colliding." She sighed. "I don't want that."

"So a boy, huh? Is he handsome?"

"Mooom…" Kiku whined, rolling her eyes. "I don't know. If anything, he is scary, and very, very tall. I barely reach his shoulders."

"Scary? Had he call you names, for running into him?"

"No, he apologised… But… It's him running into _me_ , not the other way around."

Sora chuckled. This was one funny story. _When was the last time, she told me something like this?_ She wondered. "Don't any of your friends know him?"

Kiku shrugged. "I don't know. Aya-san might, she knows almost half the school already."

"She seems like a friendly, cheerful young lady. Would you introduce her to us, sometimes?"

"Maybe." Her parents had no idea about bullying, no one had; if she wanted to bring someone home … Kiku wasn't sure about it. She didn't trust anyone this much.

She was afraid to tell her mother what had happened in the junior high – it was already gone, and how would she explain? Like 'Sorry, I didn't trust you, so I've kept quiet until now?' Or what? She knew it would hurt her mother very much, for she loved Kiku, and she would blame herself for not noticing…

* * *

 **A/N:** We caught up to about 5th chapter of 'Would you dare'. (this story doesn't have a beta yet, so sorry for any mistakes)

Wakamatsu's brother was introduced - indirectly. If you wonder about the 'zone match' - you can go and read the third chapter of WYD. Since Wakamatsu and Kiku weren't there I thought it wasn't needed in this story. Also, for those who read WYD, the bullying notes should've happened a bit earlier in the other story.

Let me know what you think, and remember, reviews are appreciated but never necessary.

-S.


	4. Chapter 4: Scars

**A/N:** Merry Christmas to you all!

I'm so sorry for not updating sooner. I was more in a mood for AyaxAomine lately, and I'm putting a little WakaxKiku moments in WYD fic too, soooo... But here's the new chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

 _There is a time to speak and a time to listen, and sometimes people need to shut up **. – David Hope, Baron Hope of Thornes**_

 _Scar tissue is stronger than regular tissue. Realize the strength, move on. – **Henry Rollins**_

 _Scars show toughness: that you've been through it, and you're still standing. **– Theo Rossi**_

 _The most truly generous persons are those who give silently without hope of praise or reward. ― **Carol Ryrie Brink, Caddie Woodlawn's Family**_

* * *

"Y-you don't like r-rainy weather?" Kiku asked, when Aya sighed after watching the rain outside.

It was raining all morning, and the basketball club was forced to stay indoors for the entire morning practise. "Not really. I just feel like having a huge cocoa and a good book and do nothing at all. Or, I want to go out there and enjoy it."

"I-I-I don't want to p-preach, but... I-isn't it a good recipe to catch n-nasty cold?"

"Probably, but it has never stopped me from going out without an umbrella." Aya shrugged. But Kiku could tell there was something bothering the redhead. Then she shrugged again and focused on her. "Do you think it's going to rain during the weekend?"

Kiku made an _I-have-no-idea_ face. "Did you want to g-go somewhere?" She asked in a quiet, but hopeful voice. Some girls, Aki and Rei, looked her way, then turned back and whispered something. She turned her eyes down, and tried to hide herself behind her fringe. She knew they were speaking about her, even if she couldn't hear it. It felt so bad.

"I was thinking about some sightseeing, maybe going to the ocean." Aya was thinking out loud, acting oblivious, but she noticed this small, silent exchange. "Well… Only if I manage to finish the work I was assigned to do."

"I-i-it's still April, so the water is rather cold." Kiku muttered, not looking up from her desk. She didn't want to meet with anyone's glare. It was good that Aya-san hadn't noticed anything.

"I don't want to go swimming yet." Aya chuckled, acting as if nothing was out of ordinary. "How was your club anyways? You haven't spoken about it yet."

"O-o-okay. We cook and bake. Abe-san is an amazing cook. It's calm and warm and n-nice." Kiku's chocolate brown eyes sparkled in joy. She loved baking the most. If there was something to make her happy it was a good book and a tasty cake.

Soon, their conversation turned into exchanging recipes. Aya was asking a lot about Japanese food, because she was used to western food, and she seriously wanted to learn more; mostly because she was running out of bento ideas.

"You can even make chocolate cake?!" Kano asked way too loudly after overhearing a bit of the girls' conversation.

Kiku almost jumped out of her skin in fright, because she hadn't seen it coming. The girls in the front laughed and she blushed in embarrassment. It was too much on her. She knew she was easily scared by sudden loud sounds, and Kano's voice startled her. But why did they have to laugh at it? Was it so terrible that she got startled? _I'm so useless… He must think I'm an idiot too._ She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, but she refused to cry in the classroom. _You're so weak._ She got up and headed out.

"Eh? What happened?" Kano asked, turning to Aya. Kiku's reaction surprised him, and hurt him a little bit.

"Kiku is very shy. So I suggest you don't speak that loudly to her, mainly when she doesn't expect you to. You startled her."

"Oh... I should apologise then... Right?"

"You can try and see." Aya suggested.

"Why do you even talk with her, Aya-chan?" One of the girls, Aki, from the front jumped into their conversation. "I mean, you are so much better."

But Kiku was only outside of the door, not away. She could hear everything. _Yeah, Aya-san is so much better…_ She thought and slid down the wall, hiding her face in her knees. She felt like leaving, and at the same time, she wanted to know. A part of her believed that Aya would join the two in badmouthing, and she should be aware of it, she needed to know.

"I don't think I understand. Where are you going with this?" Aya asked. She noticed that Kiku was kind of ostracized, but she had no idea the girls from their class would actually speak like this, moreover, in front of the others. It was rather shocking, because Kiku did nothing at all to deserve this sort of attention.

Kiku blinked. _What is going on?_

"You are pretty, smart, cheerful, why would you hang out with that, that... with **_her_**." The girl spat out, not able to find a suitable insult. "It's obvious she is using you."

There was a beat moment of silence. Kiku stopped breathing. Now it was the time for Aya to agree with them.

"Thanks for the compliment, but I believe I can decide who I want to spend my time with by myself. And to clarify, I don't feel better than Kiku... Because I'm different than her, doesn't necessarily mean I'm better." Aya said levelly.

 _Huh?_ Kiku couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her mind couldn't seem to process the fact that someone might be protecting her. During the running it might've been just a form of an obligation, because she'd been right there with Aya-san, but this… This time, Aya-san wasn't obliged to help. And without realizing it, Kiku was unconsciously testing if it was okay to trust the redhead. She wanted a friend, but she wasn't willing to trust just anyone, because it had been those 'friends' who had turned against her in the junior high.

"Someone wants to look good." Rei snickered, trying to provoke the redhead, because Aya was walking on the thin ice very efficiently. She didn't let herself to be provoked, and it got on the girl's nerves.

"You certainly do look amazing right now." Her remark came good on this one. The girls' faces twisted into an ugly grimace, which made Aya smirk. "Really. You should look into a mirror."

Kano whistled. "That one was good, Aya-chan!" He held up his hand to give a high five.

"Thank you!" She chuckled and high-fived with him. She only hoped she didn't make the situation worse for Kiku.

A few tears escaped from Kiku's eyes, but it wasn't because of her fears, it was because she felt happy. Unbelievably happy, that someone had stood up for her. For **_her_**. Out of their own free will. Because they saw something more than just a little scaredy cat. It had never happened before. Not to her. The tears of relief, and happiness were streaming down her cheeks. She covered her face, refusing to let anyone see them. Crouched down, with her back against the wall, she was hiding her face in her knees. With steady breathing she eventually calmed down. Students who'd passed by didn't notice her much and she was glad for that. Then, when she was ready to return and act as if nothing had ever happened, she got up, and returned to the classroom.

Aki and Rei sent her glares when she walked in, but Kiku put up a brave front, or rather, she avoided looking at them completely. She wasn't supposed to know what had happened after all.

"Kiku-chan!" Kano sighed in relief when she sat back to her chair, seemingly okay. "I'm sorry for startling you."

"I-i-it's o-okay, Kano-kun." She smiled weakly. "I-I-I'm so-sorry, for running a-away." It took effort to talk now. She stared at her math book, hiding behind her fringe, hoping no one could figure out she had shed a few tears.

"It's okay, it's okay. Feel free to punch me the next time I scare you, got it?" Kano said, laughing heartily. There was nothing the little girl should be scared of. _Well, maybe Aomine, but otherwise…_

"I-I'd n-never do that." She squeaked.

"Hmmm… I s'pose, just know you can." He was grinning widely, and she admired his friendliness and the ability to joke around.

She nodded.

When she finally dared to lift up her head and look at them, she was met with a pair of scrutinizing red eyes. She felt like those eyes could see the pit of her stomach, but the feeling was gone almost immediately, and Aya smiled at her.

######

Why they had to have P.E. as the last class on Friday too, was beyond Kiku. But at least she could go home right away. And having P.E. twice a week on Mondays and Fridays as the last lessons had some pros. For once, she could stay longer, wait for everyone to leave and just then go in to change. She didn't want people to see her changing clothes. At the beginning of the lessons she changed in the restrooms and at the end she waited.

Today, she managed to look like an idiot again. Thankfully, Aya-san had a club and didn't wait for her.

She sneaked into the changing room after everyone had gone back to tidy up the class.

There was a big mirror on the wall. So when her clothes came off, she stared at her scarred torso reflected in it. She didn't see the curves, nor the flat stomach she had; she ignored her nicely shaped C-cup breasts. All she could see were her scars and burn marks from cigarettes. And all that thanks to the three girls she had once considered friends; thanks to her inability to speak up and defend herself.

Oh, how much she hated those scars. She never wanted anyone to see it. No one would ever accept her like this. With those scars, she'd never be able to find a boyfriend. Who'd like to look at this anyways?

She bit her lower lip and averted her eyes from her reflection.

 _You're fine alone anyways…_

######

Aya returned to the classroom to take out the trash. She had a feeling that something was missing. She stood out and stared into the rain, which hadn't ceased at all. She sighed and adjusted her hold of the, now empty, trash can.

 _Eh?_ The familiar weight was off of her neck. Her hand immediately reached up.

Her necklace was gone. She only ever took it off for P.E. lessons, because jewellery was officially forbidden in Touou, and she didn't want to risk the teacher finding out, or anyone else for that matter, that she was hiding a boyish necklace with a ring underneath her clothes.

 _Where did I put it?_

######

"Kiku!" Aya abruptly opened the door into the girls' changing room, Miyuki-chan; one of the classmates had told her that Kiku was still there. "I lost my necklace! Have you seen it?"

Kiku startled. She wasn't dressed at all. It didn't matter that Aya-san wasn't looking at her. Yet…

She was staring at the redhead with eyes of a frightened deer staring into the headlights of a truck that is about to kill it. She was only in her underwear and squeezing the shirt of her uniform in front of her. She was paralyzed by fear. There was a reason why she stayed to be the last one in the changing room. She didn't want to be seen!

When she didn't answer, Aya looked up at her. And her jaw dropped. There were a few minutes of complete silence, and Kiku thought she'd pass out. Her world was spinning, her legs were shaking, but even so, she couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She couldn't run away. She was trembling like a leaf in a violent whirlwind. She squeezed her eyes shut, like a little kid playing hide and seek for the first time, in a hope to become invisible.

"Oh my god… What happened to you?" The redhead whispered. She wanted to shout out the question, but she knew she couldn't.

There were scars on Kiku's back and sides. Numerous scars; some looked like cigarette burns; some looked like deep cuts or scratches. Aya couldn't see the front but she would swear there were some too. At that moment Aya was shocked and infuriated. _Who would do this?! What fucking bastards would do **this**?!_

Tears welled in the corners of her closed eyes. She was mortified. She wanted to hide all those scars on her skin. But she couldn't move. And Aya-san was staring right at her. Aya-san would hate her now. Those scars were disgusting, hideous, _she_ hated them.

Aya blinked her shock away and slowly approached Kiku, as if approaching a frightened animal. "It's okay." She whispered carefully, feeling the girl's fear. "I won't tell anyone." She assured her. Kiku needed to be protected and treasured, because despite all this, she was kind and she was trying.

Aya gently touched her shaking palms. "It's okay." She repeated, as she carefully took the shirt from Kiku's hands and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Only then Kiku breathed out, and slumped onto the bench.

Aya sat next to her, holding her around her shoulders in some sort of a comforting hug. Kiku didn't know how to react. Even her mother didn't know about the scars on her torso. She never thought someone would accept it. She never wanted anyone to find out. Those scars were mementos from her bullies. And now… Someone knew. Only after two weeks!

She started crying. _This is the worst!_

No sobs came out of her throat. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, but she didn't make a sound.

 _Just what a nightmare has she lived through?_ Aya wondered and squeezed the little girl tighter. "It's okay. It'll be okay." She whispered. And she was repeating it over, and over, and over again, until Kiku's tears stopped. "If you want, you can talk to me about it, but I won't force you." The redhead said. "Just know you can."

Kiku nodded and wiped her eyes. Maybe one day she would. But not today. She knew Aya-san wasn't stupid, and she could figure it out, but she was glad the girl didn't push her.

"Please, just tell me one thing…"

Kiku froze, but waited for a question, which was about to come.

"Tell me it's not your parents." Aya said in quiet, almost threatening voice. If Kiku could see the reddish eyes, she'd see a blazing hell. Aya was aware of it, and she held the girl so she couldn't look up.

Kiku shook her head almost furiously. "T-t-t-they'd n-n-n-ne-ne-never…" She couldn't finish the sentence. She was so terrified that her voice broke.

Aya let out a sigh. From the vehemence in which Kiku tried to answer, she knew the girl wasn't lying. Besides, the scars looked old. Some of them were relatively fresh, but still… _At least a month old._ Aya'd know; she had her own scars too, though probably of different origins.

"Do you want me to leave?" Aya asked in consideration, the necklace forgotten. She was probably late for the practise, but Katsunori could wait.

Kiku hesitated for a moment. Then she nodded. Yes, she wanted Aya-san to leave. No, she didn't want to deal with her demons, she was glad they were gone from her life for the time being.

The redhead looked into her eyes again, looking for a reassurance she was okay. Kiku nodded and smiled, though she knew it was just a ghost of a smile. She wondered how Aya-san could have such a strong, warm and reassuring look in her eyes. There wasn't pity, there wasn't disgust or condemnation, only worry, and… Understanding?

Whatever Aya was looking for, she found. She nodded in satisfaction and left the changing room.

######

"Does this belong to anyone?!" Wakamatsu asked after the practise, when he found a necklace with a boyish ring. "It shouldn't be at a place like this! Be more careful guys!"

"Eh?! That's mine!" Aya shouted, ran up to him and took the ring. "I was looking for it everywhere! I must've dropped it during P.E. Thank you senpai."

"Were you still here? I thought you've left with Momoi-san."

"I wanted to find it!"

"But isn't that a boyish ring, Aya-chan?" Tada asked, with a teasing smile. "Gift from your boyfriend?"

"Oh no. My brother, our best friend and I bought those years ago in a street shop. We wanted to have the same thing, and they are boys, so we voted and this one won." She chuckled. "Since it was inconvenient to wear it while playing basket, we also bought these matching necklaces. Symbol of our friendship."

"How cute." Tada smiled.

"And there I thought you had a boyfriend." Kano sighed.

"Why do you sound disappointed? Is it a problem I don't?!"

"N-no! Of course not, Aya-chan!" He said apologetically and ran to put mops away.

* * *

Kiku had the entire weekend to level with Aya-san finding out about her scars. She spent the entire Saturday curled up in her room and reading. It was raining anyways.

"Dinner's ready!" Her mother called them all.

They sat around the table and ate in silence. Surprisingly, her brother came home for the dinner. He was living alone in a rent, close to his job. He smiled at Kiku over the table.

The atmosphere was heavy, because they father wasn't that fond of Ryuunosuke attending a university or finding a job in an auditing company. He'd wanted his son to take over the dojo as it was expected from the firstborn son. But he'd been disappointed in his child. In both of his children. The boy was a stubborn mule doing what he wanted and the girl was a weak, scaredy cat. The only good think about his daughter was her exceptional shooting skill, but it was wasted on her as she'd never competed nor taught, simply because she couldn't handle working with people. If Kiku ever taught someone how to shoot it were either children or young girls similar to her.

Sora didn't like the silence that settled over the table whenever they ate a dinner together. She loved her husband, but she didn't like how he always doubted his children, never believing in them.

Kiku was looking into her plate, or when she mustered up some courage she looked at Ryuu, but never at their father. She wasn't scared of him; she just hated seeing the disappointment in his eyes whenever he looked at her. It'd never been her intention to be a failure. Only if she could change… She had to change…

"Do you have any plans with Kagami-san?" Sora asked, trying to start some conversation. "You seemed to be happy to hang out with her the other day."

Kiku blinked at her mother in surprise. She hadn't expected a conversation to start at all. "Ah… Uhm, n-not this weekend. She has work piled up." She peeped and averted her eyes. _I can't face her after she discovered the scars…_ .

"Who is Kagami-san?" Her father asked immediately. He'd never heard Kiku talking about her friends, and despite he was disappointed in his children, he worried for them; even if they couldn't see it, or understand it.

"My friend." Kiku said quietly, trying her best to not stutter.

"What kind of a person is she?"

"S-she's a manager of boys' basketball club. Reliable, strong, confident, kind…" She replied, thinking about Aya-san, who was always helping her useless self.

Ryuu noticed the admiration in his sister's eyes, and smiled at it. If there was someone motivating his sister to open up, to change, to grow, he was more than happy. He wanted to meet the girl.

"Hmmm…"He hummed. "Good, good. Strong girls are great." He didn't realize that his words were hurting Kiku. "You should invite her over, some day."

"…Sure." She said, though she had no idea when that would be possible. Aya barely had any free time. And Kiku wasn't ready to face the redhead just yet. She was unbelievably happy she had a weekend just for herself.

######

A soft knocking snapped her out of her reading. "Yes?" She asked.

"Can I come in?" Ryuu's head peeked into Kiku's neat room. He wanted to talk with her before he'd leave.

She nodded and put her book away.

"You are anxious about something." He sat on the edge of Kiku's bed. "Does she know?" He was referring to Kiku's scars, and she knew it.

"She saw it…" Kiku bit her lower lip and looked down at her hands. "I-I don't know… what to do now, Ryuu-nii. How am I supposed to face her?"

"And what did she do when she saw it?" He asked in curiosity and a mild worry. The scars his sister had weren't something people would accept easily. But those who could and would... Those were worth being called Kiku's friends.

"…" Kiku blinked as tears welled up in her eyes again. God, how she hated this weak side of hers… "S-she… She hugged me." She said in disbelief. "And… She said… It was okay. It'd be okay…" Her tears broke free and streamed down her face. "A-aya-san…"

"Accepted it." Ryuu smiled and ruffled Kiku's short hair. "I've told you. There are people who will accept you, and love you for who you are, Kiku. You just need to keep your eyes and heart open. And you absolutely cannot hate yourself, understood?"

She smiled through her tears and nodded. Ryuu was the best brother out there. But she still wasn't sure how to face Aya when she'd see her at school again.

"And introduce the girl to us sometime. I really want to meet her."

"Haaai. When she has the time to visit, I'll ask her."

* * *

"Kou-nii-san!" Yuuta jumped on his brother to wake him up on Sunday's morning.

"Urgh!" He groaned at the impact. "Wha' time is it?"

"Eight! Let's go out! Come on! Get up! I wanna go cycling!" He nagged and tried to pull his big brother out of the bed, considering Wakamatsu's build and weight, it was not possible for the little boy to succeed.

"Can't you go with Shun today? I'm beat dead from Friday's practise." He said sleepily.

"Shun-nii is working, have you forgotten? And I wanna go with you! I wanna test the new bike already! Pleeaaaaase!"

Kousuke rubbed his eyes, sat up and yawned. Yuuta had gotten the bike for his eighth birthday a week ago, but he'd gotten sick and couldn't test it right away. So when he was finally healthy and fully recovered, he wanted to go out. _I liked him more when he was sleeping with a fever…_ Kousuke thought in exasperation. He glanced out of a window. The weather seemed nice and warm, not like the previous day. _Good for a cycling trip._

"Okay, but you are taking trash out for the next two weeks."

Yuuta puffed his cheeks, but nodded. "Fine. But hurry up."

"I need to eat first." He grumbled, finally got up and shuffled to the kitchen.

"Meooow." A pure white kitten with crystal blue eyes brushed against his bare ankles in a morning greeting.

"Mornin' Snowflake." He bent down to scratch the kitten's head.

"Greeting the cat before greeting his parents." Kousuke's father, Jun, shook his head and commented in a teasing tone

"He's the one who found her dear, she's his little girl." His mother joined in the teasing.

"Too bad it's just a cat." Jun said with a low chuckle.

Kousuke just rolled his eyes and scratched the kitty some more.

"Come on niii-san! Just eat already! I wanna gooooo!"

Jun raised an eyebrow at his younger son, and then looked at his wife. "Yeah, give Kousuke some food Yuuka, can't you see the lil' one wants to go out right away?"

######

Sundays were cleaning days for Kiku. She needed to clean the dojo properly. It was cleaned after each practise, but a general maintenance was needed every week. And once every three months she needed to wax the wooden floor as well. Thankfully, she didn't have to wax it today.

When she was done she took a broom and went to dust the path which connected the front gate, the dojo and their house. It was nice living in this old part of the city, and even if it took a lot of effort to keep the old dojo running, she felt like she was helping with protecting a part of a history.

The inside of their house was, however, renovated so it was easier to maintain.

######

"Yuuta! Wait up!" Kousuke shouted after his brother, as he raced through the old part of the neighbourhood, disappearing from Kousuke's sight at times.

They were cycling around for hours, only stopping it a local ramen shop for a quick lunch. Yuuta loved his new bike, and he wanted to fully test its possibilities.

Kousuke sighed and sped up to catch up with his brother. Usually it was calmer, but Yuuta seemed to have an enormous amount of excess energy he needed to burn after his illness. Kousuke didn't have a problem keeping up, but today, they wandered to some parts of the neighbourhood, he'd never been to. And he was still beat dead after the basketball practise.

Before he came around a corner he heard someone's voice, followed by a loud crashing sound and Yuuta's panicked scream.

######

Kiku heard someone shouting. She looked up the street just to see a boy speeding his bike around the corner. As she regularly used her bike to deliver cakes for an orphanage and as transportation to school, she knew there was a nasty bump on the road one couldn't see until it was too late. Yeah, she'd fallen there several times before she remembered it.

"Slow down!" She let out a warning, hoping it was loud enough – she wasn't use to shout.

But it wasn't heard. The boy ran onto the bump, screamed in surprise and fear, flipped in the air, fell on his butt, and the strength of the momentum flung him to his feet. Unable to keep his balance he tumbled down. All in all, it was a nasty fall, but he finally stopped. His knees and elbows were scraped, dirty and bleeding. He was shocked, frightened and hurt. His bike was lying on the ground, not damaged at all, but he didn't care at the moment. Thanks to adrenaline, he couldn't quite feel the pain yet, but tears filled his eyes.

Kiku rushed to the boy, who was spread on the ground in front of the dojo's gate. "A-are you okay?" She asked hurriedly and crouched down to the boy's side. She wasn't wearing glasses as she didn't need them that much when tidying up and she wanted to try shooting with a blurry vision – to test if she could hit a target she couldn't see clearly.

The boy had blond, almost white hair and his eyes in the colour of caramel were filled with tears. His chin was shaking and he was about to start crying. She had no idea who it was; she hadn't seen the boy in the neighbourhood.

When he looked at the pretty girl, who had a worried expression on her face, he broke into sobs.

 _Oh crap… Maybe I shouldn't have said anything?_ She thought. But nonetheless, she patted the boy's head. "There, there. It's going to be okay. Let me treat–"

"YUUTA!" Kousuke's loud voice could probably be heard all the way to their house, as he came to a full stop near to his little brother, letting the bike fall to the ground as well. "ARE YOU OKAY?! WHAT HAPPENED?! I'VE TOLD YOU TO WAIT UP!" He shouted, which made Yuuta cry even more, but Kousuke didn't mean bad. He was just worried.

Kiku took a step back, startled by the deep boyish voice. She didn't dare to look up at the face of the newcomer. She gulped and stared at her feet. "T-t-there i-i-is a b-b-b-bump on t-the r-road." She stuttered.

"HUH?!"

Only then he noticed a small girl dressed in hakama, with tenugui wrapped around her head to keep her hair away and absorb the sweat. There was a broom lying on the ground near the dojo's gate. Her chocolate brown eyes were staring at her feet and at Yuuta, but not at him.

"AH!" He had to double take; a cute girl in hakamas! "SORRY!" He said hurriedly, realising she was probably scared of his shouting, though his voice wasn't quieter one bit.

"I-I-I c-can t-t-treat him." She pointed at Yuuta with her chin, lifting her eyes a bit, but on her eye-level it was only the boy's chest. Upon seeing the broad muscled chest, strong arms and his built in general, she gulped. She didn't dare look into his face. The feeling he was giving out, reminded her of Aomine-san.

"Come on Yuuta!" He bent forward and grabbed Yuuta's upper arm. He looked away from the blood colouring Yuuta's limbs, he couldn't handle blood well. "Get up, so the lady here can treat you."

 _Eh?_ She blinked at the label he gave her. _Lady?!_

"Nii-san!" The boy protested through sobs and tears. "It hurts!" He whined.

Kousuke rolled his eyes. "Of course it hurts. You can cry all you want, but you are a big boy already, so get up and let yourself be treated." He encouraged him. "And you'll see it'll be much better."

Kiku nodded and smiled at the boy encouragingly. She was scared. The huge boy was intimidating, but she wanted to help the little one. She'd always had a soft spot for children. Maybe it was because of the kids from the orphanage she often visited and baked for once in awhile.

Yuuta liked the girl's pretty face and kind and warm smile she had on her lips. With his brother's help he got up to his feet.

Kousuke collected the bikes and rested them against the gate. "Can I leave it here?!" He asked as he followed after the girl and Yuuta.

"Y-y-yes." She stuttered.

 _Why's she stuttering?_ He wondered and followed through a small front garden filled with bonsai trees and one big sakura tree. He wasn't a great fan of history, but the place seemed like it was a world of its own. It was the first time he saw a traditional style dojo with a sliding door and all in the real life – well except for some school trips, but he hadn't been paying attention then.

The dojo was built several feet above the ground, with stairs leading into it. The door had been open and he could see through the entire space of it. Through the opened door he could see there was a long patch of grass with targets and makiwaras spread in an equal distances on the far end. He could see a large variety of bows, starting with traditional Japanese yumis and ending with something he couldn't even describe, but all bows seemed to be made out of wood or bamboo.

They took off their shoes and entered. The first room they entered was small, with a bench and another door probably leading to a sort of a bigger changing room. The place smelled from a cleaning detergent.

"I-I-I'll g-go get the first aid kit." She announced and left them in a large room leading straight to the long patch of grass separating the building, the shooting spots and the targets.

"So it's a Kyudo dojo." Kousuke hummed as he looked at the bows.

"Whoaaaa!" Yuuta stared at the bows in awe. "Kou-nii, do you think she'll let us try it out?"

"I dunno. She doesn't seem like she wants to socialise much. But if you ask." He shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe she'll let you try."

When Kiku returned, Yuuta's knees and elbows were cleaned and bandaged in no time. She was efficient, quick and tried to cause him as little pain as possible. The only thing she focused on was Yuuta, and his wounds. She was trying to ignore the big boy as much as she could. Heck, she had no idea how his face looked like, but she didn't have the courage to look at him properly.

"Nee-chan?" Yuuta asked the girl crouched in front of him.

She blinked at him in surprise, and tilted her head in question. "Y-yes?"

"You know how to shoot, right?" He asked with a sparkle in his caramel eyes.

She nodded. Though she kept it a secret in school, she was at home here. She felt much safer. "W-why?"

"Can you teach me?"

She opened and closed her mouth. Such a question hadn't been expected. She knew that traditional martial arts were on decline during the past years, so it surprised her when a boy showed an interest. It wouldn't be her first time teaching a kid. She took a deep breath, in hope she'd calm down enough to speak without stuttering.

"I-is that okay?" She asked and turned her eyes on Kousuke, staring at his chest, but never looking at his face.

"Sure. Could I try as well?" He asked.

"Only if the two you will sweep the path in front of the dojo." A voice of Kiku's father echoed through the gym. He returned home and noticed the two bikes and the broom resting against the gate. It got him curious, and upon seeing the huge boy, he needed to step in. He knew his daughter wasn't good in dealing with people like that.

The boy's hazelnut eyes stared at him for a moment, and then he turned towards the little boy. "What do you say Yuuta? It's only fair we help out if we want a lesson."

"Hmmm…" Yuuta thought about it. "Fiiine."

"Very well. I'm Ohno Taiki, and this is my dojo." He announced and bowed to the boys.

"I'm Wakamatsu Kousuke, and this is my brother Yuuta." He introduced them both and bowed too.

"Kiku!" He called out to his daughter who startled at his voice, which made Taiki frown. "Take care of Yuuta-kun. I'll teach Kousuke-kun."

"H-Hai!" She said hurriedly and bowed.

The next hour they spent teaching the two boys about mysteries of Kyudo. At first Taiki let Kousuke to try and draw a bow however he wanted, which resulted in a failure. Only after getting a hang of the technique, Kousuke managed to draw one of the bows. Taiki had to smile at it, the boy was a fast learner, with good personality and had a good, strong built. Yuuta was taking a bit longer to learn, but Kiku was doing a good job. Taiki was surprised that she wasn't wearing glasses and that she was okay talking with the kid, but scared of the big boy.

After their small Kyudo lesson, the boys swept the grounds as they were told.

"Thank you sensei!" Yuuta bowed to Taiki as they were leaving. Kiku was nowhere in sight anymore. She retreated the moment the lesson had ended. "I want to come again!"

A smile found its way onto Taiki's face. He was happy when there were people interested in Kyudo.

Kousuke looked at the shorter sensei with respect and bowed as well. The greying man in front of him didn't look that strong, but he'd swear he had more strength in his upper body than him. Heck, he'd bet the girl had more strength in her upper body than him, because drawing those bows was hellishly difficult. His muscles would hurt so much the next day.

"You can stop by again if you feel like it." Taiki said. "…though it'd be better if my daughter isn't here alone." He sighed. "Sorry for her behaviour today." It was meant for Kousuke.

 _She didn't do anything wrong._ "Nah, that's fine. Girls in school avoid me too. And she helped Yuuta anyways. I'm grateful for that." He shrugged. "Uuuhm… Tell her, we say goodbye." He said rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. He didn't know what else to do. The girl was pretty, kind and he had a thing for cute short girls wearing traditional clothes, but he couldn't force her to talk with him.

"Go and tell her yourself. She should be shooting now." He said, and indeed a sound of an arrow hitting its mark echoed through the garden.

He wanted to see her shoot, but… He saw how his presence made her anxious. "I don't want to be a bother." He bowed to the man and pushed his bike down the street. "Let's go Yuuta. I don't want to miss a dinner!"

"Coming!"

"Last one at home has to do the dishes!"

"NII-SAN! UNFAIR!"

Taiki chuckled as he watched the departing boys. _What an interesting pair…_

* * *

 **A/N:** That's it for now! We're slowly catching up with WYD fic. But there's still a lot to come. Wakamatsu and Kiku basically met here, but they have no idea who's who, or that they attend the same school. I hope Wakamatsu is in character, because he is challenging to write.

Let me know what you think and remember, reviews are appreciated but never necessary.

 _-S._


	5. Chapter 5: Collision

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone who followed, favourited and reviewed! It makes me really happy. I'm sorry I don't have a set schedule for this story, but I update whenever I have a new chapter. Thanks for your patience!

* * *

 _Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you. **– Princess Diana**_

 _I hope that my daughter grows up empowered and doesn't define herself by the way she looks but by qualities that make her an intelligent, strong and responsible woman. **– Isaiah Mustafa**_

 _"May feel like you're falling', Tabby, but remember, I'm at the bottom ready to catch you." **― Kristen Ashley , Own the Wind**_

* * *

"Shun-nii!" Yuuta greeted his tall second brother on Monday morning. They headed in the same direction and Yuuta parted half-way. "You won't believe what we did yesterday!"

"Good morning!" He nodded to Kousuke and ruffled Yuuta's hair. "What did you do?"

"You see, you see… We went cycling, and we kept going on and oooon… We stopped by the ramen restaurant. You know, the one with the cute nee-chan carrying the food around."

Shun laughed at the description. If he remembered correctly, it'd been him who said the waitress was cute. "Yeah, I know."

"So… And Nii-chan didn't look at her at all. Would you believe that?!" He said in disbelief.

"Oi! How old are you even?!" Kousuke scolded him.

Yuuta stuck out his tongue.

"So? And what happened next." Shun nudged the boy to continue with his story.

"We wandered to the old part of the neighbourhood. Where the shrine is, and stuff. And there was this bump on the road. And the kind nee-chan in a hakama."

"Huh? Aren't you omitting something?" Shun asked. "Because I don't get it?"

"He fell down in front of a Kyuudo dojo, and the girl living there patched him up, and gave him a shooting lesson. The sensei of the dojo taught me a bit too." Kousuke cleared the story for his friend.

"A kind girl in hakamas, huh? Was she cute too?" Shun gave him a teasing stare. "You sure you didn't want **_her_** to teach you?"

That made Wakamatsu blush, because the girl was indeed cute. "Urgh, stop it! Seriously." _She didn't even look at me._

"What?" Yuuta asked and looked at the two high-schoolers in confusion. "Nee-chan taught me! She was amazing!"

######

"Sweety!" Sora came to check up on her. "You'll be late if you don't head out?"

"I don't wanna." She whined and curled up in her bed. She felt nauseous on this particular morning. She had to face Aya-san.

"Oh, come on." Sora patted her hair. "Did something happen?"

Kiku blinked in surprise. She quickly came up with an excuse. "Ah… No. I just don't feel like studying today." It wouldn't be good if her mom started to be suspicious about something.

"But you have to go school anyways."

Kiku sighed. "Haaai." She kicked off her covers and got out of her bed.

######

A few bully letters fell out of her locker as she opened it. _Really?_ She thought and threw them away without reading. She didn't want to be bothered by them today. She was stressed enough even without the letters.

She warily walked into the classroom. Aya-san wasn't paying much attention to her, as she was going through Aomine's English homework, giving him some tips. …which reminded her to talk with Ishii-san about the upcoming History paper they were supposed to prepare and present the next week.

One group, out of all 15 they had in the class, had to prepare a paper and then present it in a specific week. Kiku and Ishii drew the shortest straw and had to go present as the first. Aya and Aomine were to present it as the last, just before the summer break, so they weren't bothered by it at all yet.

"Oh, hey!" Aya greeted her cheerfully when she noticed her. "How was your weekend?"

Kiku blinked at the redhead who was behaving as if she'd never seen the scars. And she seemed happy about something.

"I-I-I w-was at h-home." She stuttered out of herself.

"Tch." Aomine clicked his tongue and stared outside of window, ignoring her completely.

Aya frowned at him, but she didn't scold him. _She probably doesn't want to provoke him._ Kiku thought. But his irritated sound made her shrink back a bit. She wasn't liked by the boy. She knew. She shouldn't care.

She sat down, pulled out her English textbook and stared into nowhere. Aya-san didn't seem to be offended in any way… But then… She shouldn't behave like that. Aya-san was acting normal, so why would she act like an idiot and ignore the one friend she had.

"A-a-and you?" She asked the redhead, trying to fight off her stuttering.

"Hm?" Aya picked her eyes from her phone and whatever that caught her attention enough to openly pull out a phone in the classroom as she rarely did it.

"Uhm… h-h-how was y-your weekend?"

"I had an awesome Saturday playing basket," Kiku noticed how Aya's eyes travelled to Aomine, but the boy didn't react, so she shrugged and looked back at her. "And on Sunday I finished my work and read the book I'd bought at Arami's the other day. It was enjoyable, but I've read better. Oh, and I played some basket with Taiga in the evening. And the best part?" The redhead asked raising an eyebrow at her.

"I-I-I d-don't know?"

"Taiga cooked the whole weekend! I didn't have to!" She exclaimed happily.

Kiku blinked at her in surprise. In her household it was her mother who cooked, and Kiku helped around, or rarely, when mom didn't feel well she cooked too. But Aya said it in a way that it was a norm that she was the one doing the cooking.

"Eeeeeeh?!" Kano leaned over Ishii's desk to join in. "Your brother cooks?!"

Kiku almost got a heart-attack, since Ishii was sitting right behind her.

Aya blinked at him. "Yeah. Sometimes I think he cooks better than me." She chuckled.

"Would you stop crumpling my textbook?" Ishii asked with an annoyed expression.

"I'm not crumpling anything!"

Ishii shoved his friend off of his desk with a scowl.

"Could you stop giving Kiku heart attacks?" Aya asked him with a teasing sparkle in her eyes.

"Am I scaring you Kiku-chan?! Am I?!" He asked overly dramatically.

"Ah… N-n-n –"

"Alright everyone! Back to your seats!" Irihata-sensei walked in and scowled at the loud teenagers within the classroom.

######

"I-i-shii-kun?" Kiku mustered up the courage to talk to him. It's only been two weeks since the school had started, and she was already trying so hard to talk to the others. It was scary, but it made her feel stronger at the same time.

"Yeah? What is it Kiku-chan?" He asked her with a polite smile, looking up from physics homework; he was trying to finish during the break.

"U-uhm… A-about the h-history assignment…" She peeped.

"Oh right, we have the presentation next Monday, and we haven't even started…" He rubbed his chin in thoughts. He wasn't willing to skip practise because of that. "How about we go to the library tomorrow before the clubs? I guess we are not on the cleaning duty."

"T-that could w-w-work."

######

"Kiku!" Her father entered the dojo in the evening.

"Father." She lowered a bow and bowed to him respectfully. "W-what do you need?"

He frowned when he heard her stutter. It was only slight and it happened rarely, but he'd always had a bad feeling about it, like there was something he should've noticed, but had failed to do so. "It's a short notice, so you can decline… Akiya-san wants you to come to the orphanage. One of the caretakers' mother got sick, and she needs to stay with her."

"Oh." She blinked at him. And then she quickly looked away. That was unexpected. "Which one?"

"Hmmm… I think her name was Usui-san."

Kiku nodded, staring at her feet. She wasn't good at facing her father. "S-she said her mother wasn't doing that well the other day… And little Kai… I'll go. I'll stay there as long as it's needed." She decided, thinking about the small boy, who wouldn't go to sleep as long as Usui-san or Kiku stayed by his side.

Taiki nodded with a sigh. "And there I thought you might help me with leading the practise tomorrow… Oh well… Akiya-san'll pay you for it, of course."

"Ask Ryuu-nii-san to come tomorrow. He should have the evening free."

"I will." He said. He opened his mouth to say something more, but suddenly, he didn't know how to. _Since when do I have problem talking with her?_

It was awkward now. Both of them were standing opposite each other, no one sure whether to speak or not, or what to do.

Taiki rubbed his neck and his eyes landed on the target Kiku'd been shooting at, or rather, the 15 targets – each at different distance. The furthest one was 100m away – the shooting ground was that long, but he believed she'd hit it even if it was further. All the arrows she'd shot met their targets, bullseyes, the area of which wasn't wider than a palm. That was a deadly skill she had there.

His eyes widened. He'd never seen such a precision. His daughter was now shooting about the same as him, if not better. And there she was, stuttering, and running away, whenever she approached someone new, or big. He didn't get it.

"Good job." He nodded towards the targets. "But you should get going now."

"Hai, father." She kept her eyes glued to the ground, as she put the bow back to its place and ran to retrieve all the arrows.

######

The Akiya's orphanage wasn't that far away. It took Kiku 10 minutes by bike, but she didn't mind. The air was getting colder as the sun set, and she had to zip up her jacket. She was actually looking forward to all the kids. She'd last seen them during the spring vacation and she'd missed them.

"Eh?" She blinked at the small boy sitting on the stairs in front of the building when she arrived. "Kai! What are you doing out? It's cold already." She jumped off her bike, almost losing balance. She quickly chained it, and rushed to the boy.

His eyes were red from crying, and his hands were so cold.

"What happened?" She asked softly, pulling off her jacket and wrapping the boy up.

Kai snuggled into it, but didn't say a word.

Kiku patted his head and hugged him. "Usui-san is going to be back in no time. Until then, I'll be here with you. Is that okay?" She asked.

The four years old nodded reluctantly and rested his head on Kiku's shoulder. He was fixated on those two. If they weren't around, he'd go all quiet and uncooperative. Well, that couldn't be helped. Kai had been abandoned by his parents at the age of two. They'd left him wandering the streets, until someone found him and handed him to the orphanage. No one knew his name, and the boy didn't talk much yet. It'd been Usui-san who'd named him.

"Good boy." She said in a motherly voice. "Now, let's go in, take a bath and get to bed. I'll tell you all a bedtime story."

"Do the voices." He peeped up, suddenly excited. Kiku had an amazing voice for storytelling, too bad these kids were the only ones who knew. "Please…"

She smiled at him knowingly. "Of course I will."

* * *

The school was dragging on, and Kiku wanted it to end quickly. She ate lunch with Aya, in a comfortable silence like usual, but the redhead was preoccupied by a practise match they were supposed to have on Friday. Everyone from the basketball club was excited, and it kind of rubbed off on Kiku, she got curious.

"Why don't you come with us?" Kano asked enthusiastically. "We wouldn't mind to have another cute manager!" He blurted out and it made Kiku blush.

"It's not a bad idea actually…" Aya thought. "Why don't you come and watch, at least once?"

"Uhm… I-I'm s-sorry. I-I… T-t-there's something I h-h-have to d-do." She said, biting he lower lip in embarrassment she felt for the stuttering. But Aya's presence still made her feel uncomfortable. The redhead knew about the scars… And she'd actually kept it to herself… It felt strange.

"Oh, then next time. I hope you'll come next time." Aya smiled at her. "I bet they'd all be delighted."

"We will." Ishii joined. "But now we need to go to start on our assignment. Otherwise, we'll fail. So…" He pointed at the door, to sign Kiku they were leaving.

"Y-yeah."

######

Kiku was late for the club. She knew she shouldn't run, but she couldn't help it. She didn't want to disappoint Wada-san or Abe-sensei. She'd been late the previous day due to P.E. and the cleaning duty. And now she got held up in the library, working on the project with Ishii-kun. He ran out full speed, muttering something about Aya killing him, but he wasn't the one who tripped over himself.

 _Damn!_

She was running down the stairs full speed. The last five steps and she'd be safely down. She could hear her heart and her blood pounding in her ears.

Her leg slipped. She tried to keep her balance, but she stepped on her shoe lance and she was toppling down head first. She gasped bud she didn't scream. She shut her eyes tight and readied herself for an impact with the opposite wall.

It never came.

She rammed into something sturdy and solid, but it wasn't a wall. It had a shape and it gave out warmth.

And it also yelped in surprise and grunted upon the impact. The world spun, and she indeed crashed to the ground, dragging whoever or whatever got into her way down with her.

"Oi, Kou!"

"What the hell?!" He softened her fall… He was indeed shocked when he suddenly got ran over by the tiny creature flying down the stairs.

She could feel the deep voice rumbling beneath her ear. She opened her eyes. She was laying flat on a top of a huge, well muscled boy.

She sprang up, panicked. After she crawled to her knees and got off the boy, he sat up. Now, she was kneeling in-between his wide spread legs. She didn't want to look up, but…

"You okay?" He asked her, seeing the fragile and panicked girl, Kousuke didn't have the heart to shout at her.

The voice sounded calm, so she dared to peek at the boy. And she was met with a worried frown and a pair of warm hazelnut eyes. _Ah. The one I'm bumping into! Ah wait… Isn't he…?_

She blushed furiously in utmost mortification. She opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't seem to find her voice.

"Come on, get up. You can't stay down there the whole day." Tada nudged the two. "Aya-chan will kill us, we're late for practise as it is."

"Ah! YOSH!" Kousuke jumped to his feet, making Kiku startle with his shout.

"Come on!" He offered her his hand.

When she looked up at the two freakishly tall guys from the second year she paled.

"Oh, aren't you Kiku-chan?" Tada smiled politely. He'd heard about the girl from the first years.

She nodded, and with her eyes cast down she accepted Kousuke's offered hand. He pulled her up as if she weighted nothing at all. For him, it was indeed, nothing at all.

"S-s-s-sorry." She breathed out and bowed. Then she turned on her heel and ran down the hall, falling once in the process. She felt like dying from embarrassment, but she scraped up to her feet and ran to the cooking club to seek a refuge.

######

"Whoah, she sure is a shy thing." Tada whistled. "And she fell again… Poor girl."

Wakamatsu didn't answer and kept staring after the girl. There was something familiar about her. He felt like he saw her somewhere, but he wasn't sure at all. He couldn't get a good glimpse at her face, as she kept staring at the ground, only looking at him for a few seconds. The short hair suited her, but the fringe and the big glasses hid quite some part of her face.

Shun nudged the suddenly quiet Kousuke. "What's bothering you?"

"Nah. It's nothing." But he peeked over his shoulder to where the girl disappeared.

"Hmmmm…. You like her?"

"WHAT?! I didn't even see her properly!" _But I guess she was kinda cute…_

Shun laughed and shrugged. "One never knows. It's exactly in the situations like these, when the love might sprout."

Kousuke rolled his eyes. "What nonsense have you been reading lately?"

"It's not nonsense, its poetry! You should try it sometimes."

"A bunch of gibberish." Kousuke muttered under his breath. He could never understand poetry.

Shun sighed. "A narrow mind… So? What is your estimation?"

"Of what?" He frowned in confusion and he didn't like the teasing sparkle in his friend's eyes.

"Kiku-chan's cup size: she laid on top of you after all."

Wakamatsu turned red in an instant. "How am I s'posed to guess that?!"

"Oh, and she had a black lacy panties." Shun added with a smirk.

"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU LOOK?!" He slapped the back of his friend's head in an utmost disappointment. He still wanted to believe that Shun was a serious type of guy, because he acted like that with everyone… Everyone except him. Being best friends with someone had its strange sides.

The expression Shun had was an expression of sheer innocence. "What? I'm a healthy guy. I'm curious."

Kousuke grunted in exasperation. "Let's hurry, or we'll be seriously dead."

######

She stopped in front of the cooking class and tried to calm down. Her cheeks were heated up, and she couldn't stop thinking about how she dragged the huge second year to the ground with her. And it was _the_ person she kept bumping into. It was unbelievable. _What did I do to deserve this? He must think I'm some freak or something…_

"Ohno-chan! Why are you outside? We are late, we need to go in!" Wada-senpai ran up to her, with her cheeks red from the effort. She didn't wait for Kiku's answer; she simply grabbed her arm and dragged her into the classroom.

"Eh?!" Kiku blinked as they stumbled in, everyone's attention turning towards them.

"Welcome girls!" Abe-sensei smiled at them good-heartily. "Did the cleaning duty hold you up?" She asked.

"Yes!" Wada answered, and bowed immediately. "We're sorry!"

Kiku was too shocked from everything to react properly, so she mechanically followed Wada's example and bowed too.

"Nothing to be done about that." Abe-sensei clapped her hands. "Now, chop-chop, get moving. We are going to cook some delicious curry!"

######

"OKAY! ONCE MORE!" Kousuke shouted as he led the final drills.

"Where do you get the energy?" Tada asked him, out of breath. Ever since Aya had appeared – the only one who had no problem keeping up with Kousuke, the practises had gotten more intense. And then he had an evening shift in the convenience store awaiting him.

"IF THE GIRL CAN KEEP UP, YOU CAN TOO! COME OOON!"

"YEAH! COME OOON!" Aya joined Kousuke, laughing at his antics. She'd never thought he'd be so loud whenever it came to club activities. But she didn't mind it in a way.

"Are you making fun of him?" Tada asked with a smile as he stopped by her.

"A bit. But I admire his attitude, really." She shrugged with a smile and started running again.

######

"Can I come in?" Aya's voice reached them through the changing room's door. The practise was over, and there shouldn't be all the guys anymore, just the healthy core of the club, as she liked to think about them.

"Eh? Yeah." Kano answered, buttoning up his shirt. It was a day when Aya couldn't stay over-practise, so it surprised them when she was still there.

"What does she want?" He looked at Ishii questioningly.

"You'll find out in a minute, stupid." Naito rolled his eyes.

"Good, just who I needed." She nodded as she scanned the remaining boys in the changing room. She need the first years from her class, and she didn't care if there were some senpais. "It's about Kiku, actually."

"Ha? What about Kiku-chan?" Kano asked loudly.

Aya sighed. "This. Exactly this."

He blinked at her dumbly, which made Naito roll his eyes. "Just how stupid can you be?"

"Sorry?" He shrugged and grinned. "But I have no idea what's going on…"

"I'd like to ask you all a favour. Kiku's a shy person, and she might be even scared of you. So please! _Please_ try to treat her gentler. If we can help her that way, why not?"

"Right! I'll try to!" Kano said immediately. "But Aomine…"

"He doesn't interact with her, so it doesn't really matter. And he'll come around too, eventually. I hope…" She said, but she didn't seem so sure about it. "Anyways. That's all. I need to run now. Thank you!"

######

"Are you still thinking about the girl?" Shun asked his friend on their way home. It was unusual for Kousuke to be so caught up in his thoughts.

"Nah… I just wonder… I think I've seen her before."

"We are in the same school…"

"I don't mean that, I think… I've seen her somewhere out of school, but I'm not sure. I can't remember."

"Why don't you just ask her? If I remember correctly, it was Kiku-chan, from the class 1-3."

Kousuke sighed. "Haven't you heard? She's scared of Kano… I mean… Kano…" The boy was friendly, open, and smaller than him. And if Kiku was afraid of him… "She won't talk to me."

"Urgh, come on! Why don't you just try?!"

"That'd be so embarrassing! Not happening."

* * *

 **A/N:** So they finally had the big collision! If you've read WYD, than you knew it was to come, if not, it's fine too :)

Let me know what you think and remember, reviews are appreciated, but never necessary.

-S.


	6. Chapter 6: Secrets and favours

**A/N:** Sorry it took so long to update. I wasn't in the mood for this story, and it's a bit hard for me to go backwards as WYD is far ahead. :)

There might be some mistakes as I'm impatient to update, but I'll edit later...

Enjoy! :)

* * *

 _She was powerful, not because she wasn't scared but because she went on so strongly, despite the fear_ _ **.― Atticus Poetry**_

 _I don't care if you're black, white, straight, bisexual, gay, lesbian, short, tall, fat, skinny, rich or poor. If you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you. Simple as that._ ― _**Robert Michaels MD - 2007 - Graduation Speaker**_

 _A good friend keeps your secrets for you. A best friend helps you keep your own secrets. ―_ _ **Lauren Oliver , Before I Fall**_

 _We need to look back sometimes and realize the past taught us to appreciate our future. ―_ _ **Simone Elkeles, Chain Reaction**_

 _It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them. ―_ _ **Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson in His Journals**_

* * *

"Did something happen?" Aya asked her in the morning.

"W-why?" Kiku blinked at her in surprise. "I-I-I'm f-fine." She muttered. But no, she wasn't fine. After dragging that huge senpai, whoever it had been, to the ground, she felt like digging a hole and hiding from the entire world in it. She was trying to forget the incident the best she could.

And they'd known her name! She dreaded running into those two boys again.

"Hmm…" The reddish eyes stared at her intensely. "You sure? If there's something bothering you, you can talk to me, you know."

"H-h-how am I g-going to p-present?" She asked to change the topic into one she was more comfortable with. It'd be weird to talk about her unbearable balance issues.

"Huh?"

"T-the h-h-history project." She cleared and looked at her folded hands. "I-I-I d-don't want to ruin Ishii-kun's mark…"

 _Right we have some history project…_ She thought and glanced at Aomine, who was staring out of the window. "Well… How about you train in front of some audience?" She suggested. "I think that Kano, Sakurai and even Satsuki would make some free time during the weekend to go out with us. It's better to have more people, right? And if you manage that…"

"Y-y-you think i-it could h-h-help?"

"100% and if not, well… It's just 15 minutes of humiliation. You'll survive, like everything else." She smiled.

"R-r-right…"

Kano and Ishii returned from the vending machine, bringing tea to everyone. Even Aomine got one and Ishii wasn't sure if it wasn't just Kano trying to bribe the ace to come to practise. Personally, he couldn't care less, and even if Aomine truly was amazing, he wouldn't tolerate those constant insults he spat towards everyone.

"Kiku-chan?" Ishii asked as he was handing her a peach tea.

"?" She blinked at him in question.

"Can we continue the history project today? You don't have the club today, and well… I asked the captain and I can skip some of the practise. We should get it done as soon as possible."

"O-okay. I can. B-but…" She looked away. Being stared at, never did her any good.

"But?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I-I-I n-need to l-leave sooner." She bit her lower lip apologetically. "S-sorry?"

He sighed in relief. He had expected something worse. "Sure. No problem."

######

"Still thinking about Kiku-chan?" Shun teased his best friend as they were occupying Shun's balcony in the evening.

"Err…" Kousuke yawned. "Not so much…"

They were supposed to work on some project, but were currently taking a break. Shun took it as his personal agenda to keep Kousuke's grades better than passable. Of course the two formed the necessary 'homework-team' again. They were the best combination as they lived in the same apartment complex and were best friends.

Shun yawned. The practise that day was particularly harsh as they were preparing for an upcoming practise match. It was rather difficult to manage club activities, committee activities, family activities, job (at least in Shun's case) and homework.

"So in other words you are. Really… Just talk to her. Ask Aya-chan to introduce you, or something. Those two are friends."

"You've seen her, no? She's scared shitless of both of us." He muttered, laying down and resting his long legs against the railing.

"Language." Shun scolded him with a chuckle and sipped from his tea. "Maybe because we're just too big? Compared to her… And she _did_ drag you down… She's probably mortified, embarrassed, and wishes to hide in a hole somewhere."

"You understand girls surprisingly well…" He grumbled in response. "And wouldn't you mind, anyways?"

"Eh? Why would I?" He asked.

Kousuke raised an eyebrow and glanced at his best friend. "Well… because…" He really didn't want to say it. Some part of him hoped it hadn't been true, because Shun could just pretend so well, in front of everyone, probably.

Shun laughed. "Oh, no. You're not like me. And you are my best friend. I can only support you. So… No stupid thoughts, got it?"

"Asking Aya-chan to introduce us, you say?"

"Why not? I can see no harm there. And look, Kiku-chan is in one class with Aomine and she survives every day."

"I'll think about it… Maybe." He blushed terribly and looked away. He was probably an idiot. The little girl wouldn't look at him at all.

* * *

"Aya-chan, Kiku-chan, wanna join us for a lunch outside?" Kano asked. "You too, Sakurai, if you want."

"Sure." Aya decided for both girls.

Kiku just nodded. Aya seemed to use every opportunity to socialise Kiku, if she didn't raise an objection immediately. And honestly, she didn't mind it. If Aya wasn't there, she'd probably decline to have a lunch with the boys alone, but like this... It was easier. She felt reassured and safe with Aya around.

"I can?" Sakurai blinked at him. "Ah, sorry, I thought…"

Kano rolled his eyes at the apology. "Stop apologising and move those legs. Come on."

"Right away! Sorry for holding you up! I'm sorry." He grabbed his lunch and sprang up to his feet.

Aya sighed. "You too, come on." She nudged Aomine, who looked like he was taking a nap on his makeshift pillow.

"Hm?" He glanced at the redhead, and Kiku would swear he hadn't been really sleeping.

"Come have lunch with us." She repeated with heavenly patience.

He sighed, but surprisingly he got up and followed after the redhead; observing her every move and Kiku wasn't sure if it was just interest, or amazement. She feared Aomine, because he had that kind of aura and that constant frown or scowl on his face, but he didn't look as scary when he was with Aya. He noticed her and those stormy eyes threatened to crush her weak self.

She quickly cast her gaze down to her feet. She couldn't withstand the pressure of his pointed stare. It made hew wonder what Aya was made of, because she didn't seem bothered by Aomine's glares, or rude behaviour in the slightest.

"Hey! You going to eat outside?!" A bubbly voice reached them.

Kiku peeked from behind Ishii to see the pinkette waving at the group. It was probably Momoi Satsuki, Aya had mentioned and the one she'd met at the lockers couple of times, though the girls never did any proper introduction.

"Yeah!" Aya waved back. "Join us if you want."

"I'll fetch my lunch and I'll be right there!" She called out, turned on her heel and bounced towards her classroom to grab her lunch.

They found a nice cosy table under the trees in the school's garden. It was the first time for Kiku to eat with so many people. Satsuki joined them soon after and she sat opposite Kiku. Aomine was sitting on the other side, at the very end of the table, opposite Aya.

"I'm Momoi Satsuki!" She smiled at Kiku. "Sorry, I haven't properly introduced myself earlier. So rude of me!"

"I-i-it's f-fine." Kiku tried to smile back, and hoped it wasn't some sort of a 'retarded seal' smile. "I-I'm O-ohno Kiku." She hated when she stuttered over her own name; mainly when the pinkette did nothing wrong, except that she seemed to be such a gentle and nice girl. Well… There was something slightly calculating in those magenta eyes staring right at her. But she was one of the best basketball analysts out there – according to Aya at least – so she needed to be a little bit calculating and canny.

"Kiku-chan! Such a beautiful name! I love those flowers." Satsuki smiled encouragingly. She had no idea why this little girl was stuttering, but she guessed it must've had some reason. But Aya-chan was a friend of them both, so Satsuki was convinced that Kiku was a good person. A worthy friend.

Kiku blushed under the praise and looked at her food.

"Satsuki-chan! What about the other team? Where are we playing tomorrow?" Kano asked curiously.

"Well, at Kitamiya – all boys' high school. They aren't a strong team per se, but they asked for the match, so why not? The regulars should be the ones playing, but who knows? Maybe you'll get a chance in the match too."

"Really?! That's awesome! What kind of plays are they specialities?" He asked further, which lured Satsuki into extensive explanation as she was analysing the team despite the coach's ban.

For Kiku it was a completely foreign ground. She had no idea about basketball, or its rules; definitely not the positions. But she kept half-listening while eating her lunch. It wasn't bad to be around people after all. She could forget those bully notes, which were getting more and more creative.

At some point, Wada-chan stopped by the group, to inform Kiku that she'd skip the cooking club in the afternoon, because of a project she needed to do. Kiku didn't really mind it, as she would cook on her own, hopefully, without any problems.

After that she got lots of questions regarding the cooking club and her clubmates. The boys seemed to have enough patience with her stuttering and the more she had to talk, the easier it was and she stuttered less too.

"Oi!" Aomine almost shouted, startling everyone. "What's so funny? I just asked a question!"

"Oh boy…" Satsuki muttered and glanced at the two curiously, not sure if they were arguing, or if it was just Aomine-kun surprised by something.

"Let me guess… Satsuki told you?" Aya asked and looked at the pinkette shortly, who made an instant apologetic face – not really sure why, it was a reflex.

"Who else? Was that a secret?" He asked tilting his head and staring at Aya.

Kiku gasped, if it were her, she'd probably pass out from such an intense stare. But Aya was staring back calmly.

"Not really." She said nonchalantly.

"So you do dance?"

"Dance?" Kano and Ishii exchanged confused glances and observed the duo. Even Sakurai seemed perplexed by this new information. Kiku was baffled. _Don't they know?_

"Yes. I do. Any problem with that?" She admitted.

"It's not a sport." Aomine mumbled and disappointment was lacing his deep voice.

"True. It's not **just** a sport. It's so much more." Aya winked at him and got up. "We should head back if we want to be on time for afternoon classes." She looked at everyone with her usual smile and headed back towards the school.

"Did you know, Aya-chan dances?" Satsuki asked curiously, aligning her step with Kiku. "You weren't surprised like the boys."

"Ah… Y-yeah. S-she told me some time ago…" _So Momoi-san is good at observing too…_

"Same here. But Aomine-kun is just so rude. How come he doesn't consider it a sport? I bet he wouldn't be able to do anything like Aya-chan surely can." She puffed her cheeks, scolding her childhood friend even if he couldn't hear her.

"Shut up, Satsuki!" He growled at her from the front.

She stuck out her tongue but remained quiet. _His hearing is too good…_

######

Typing on her phone, Aya wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings. She was heading to the bathroom during the last short break and dealing with some mails along the way. As if it wasn't enough that the jerseys for the team were delivered incorrectly and the whole order was messed up, now an urgent work had to pop up as well.

She believed she had the way engraved in her feet already. She opened the door without looking at the sign, which clearly said 'STORAGE'. The room was relatively dark and something jumped and yelped as she barged in.

She looked up from her phone and it nearly fell out of her hands.

She stared at two boys making out in the storage room. And they, equally startled and terrified, stared back at her.

"Uhm…" She started.

"See?! This why I didn't want to do it here in the first place!" A shorter one of them, judging by the shoes a third year, shouted at the other, who happened to be Tada Shun from the basketball club.

The fact that it was Tada-senpai made Aya a bit more surprised than she'd be. "Sorry? I didn't want to interrupt?" She shrugged and turned around to leave.

"We're done!" The third year shouted and stormed past Aya, hastily fixing his clothes, before she could make her run.

"Well… Quite humiliating." Tada sighed and drove his fingers through his hair. His shirt and buckle were undone, he had a hickie on his chest and overall he looked dishevelled. At least his erection disappeared with the heart-attack Aya had caused him.

"Uhm… I'm really sorry for ruining your relationship?"

He raised an eyebrow at her and laughed. "A relationship? This? Oh, please. If it had been a relationship he wouldn't have run away like that." He was truly amused by the girl. "By the way, is that your only worry?"

"And what else should be my worry?" She stuffed the phone into her pocket, inwardly swearing she'd never walk around like a zombie while typing on her phone.

"Uh… That I was here with a guy?"

"And?"

"It should be… disgusting for others?"

She sighed. "I'm surprised, yes. I actually thought you had a girlfriend, senpai. You lied then! Buut… It's none of my business really. You're not the only one swinging the other way that I know of… so… I don't mind at all."

"Your acquaintance network is starting to worry me, Aya-chan."

A broad grin appeared on her face. "Well, it might be a bit worrisome at times, but, if you need some help or whatever, I'm fine with it."

"Will you keep this for yourself? I don't want to freak out the team." He said sheepishly. The last thing he wanted was his team whispering about him and avoiding him, or turning against him and bullying him because he was gay. It could easily happen with some of the guys. Another reason, why he'd refused the offer to be a vice-captain.

"I've never intended to say it to anyone." She smiled. "But can I have one question? Just out of curiosity…"

"Well… There's nothing more embarrassing than this. Shoot." He shrugged and reached to button up his shirt to fix his appearance.

"Does Wakamatsu-senpai know?" She asked, knowing that the two were best friends, but…

"Yeah. It almost ruined the friendship, as I was kinda into him at the time… but… He is too kind sometimes and worries too much, so. We are still friends with sleepovers and all. I don't know how to explain this to Yuuta though… Ah, Kousuke's younger brother."

"When the time comes?" She shrugged. "Nice to hear he didn't abandon you."

"It was a very difficult time for me then…" He sighed. "Well, I think you didn't barge here intentionally?"

"Ah! Bathroom!" She remembered she needed to pee really bad. "Sorry!" She saluted and ran.

"I'll get you to tell me something in exchange though, Aya-chan." He muttered and left the storage room as well; heading back to his class.

######

"I've been found out." Tada announced grimly to Kousuke, Imayoshi and Susa. The only guys who had known and respected his secret.

The four were alone in the changing room after practise. Some first and second years were still in the gym, but Aya-chan was keeping them occupied so there was no reason to expect a barge in, or eavesdropping.

Imayoshi blinked at him in surprise, Tada was way too careful about his sexual orientation for someone to 'figure him out' that easily. "Who are we burying then?" He asked.

Shun laughed. Yep, these were his friends. "No one, unless you're willing to murder Aya-chan… And I don't think that's an option."

"So our manager, huh?" He mused and sat on a bench.

"How did that happen?" Susa asked him curiously.

"She walked in on me, and Ryuu-san making out in a storage room. There was no possible way to lie my way out so…"

"And her reaction?" Kousuke asked with a deep frown settling on his face.

"Actually?" He laughed. "She apologised for 'ruining my relationship', because the idiot yelled at me and stormed out. Other than that, she said she knew some other gays and that she'd keep it a secret and would help me if I needed it." He shrugged. "I was dumbfounded. And I don't really mind her knowing. She seems to be a good person."

"Eh?" They all blinked at Shun in surprise. "That's actually nice." Imayoshi added.

"I thought so too. But… I'll need some incentive."

"You should've thought about it sooner, you know." Imayoshi said with a frown. "Haven't I taught you anything?"

"Yeah, yeah… There was no time to interrogate her in any way."

"Tell us what you get then."

"No can do captain." Shun smiled slyly. "If I want her to keep my secret, I'll have to keep hers. That's the point of incentives, no?"

"Then I've taught you way too well…"

* * *

When the practice match – much disappointing to say - was over the school driver drove them back to school, where they dispatched. Aya went to a cafeteria near the station with Satsuki. The boys followed them, and waited until the girls were done. Wakamatsu protested several times, he felt like a creepy stalker, but Tada persuaded him they needed to talk with Aya that day. And when she said goodbyes with Satsuki, they were waiting for her just around a corner.

"Waiting for me like birds of prey?" She worded out the sudden strained feelings. "What have I done?" She stared straight at Tada-senpai.

Shun laughed. "Nothing at all, Aya-chan. We just want to ask you a favour."

"Okay?" She asked warily. "I'm listening."

"You're going to the station, right? Let's go." Wakamatsu nodded with a slight blush and started heading off. He felt like an idiot.

"Kousuke." Tada called out his name meaningfully. "This is your agenda, not mine."

He shuddered, blushing even more. What was he even doing? "Errrr…"

"Fine." She said in an 'I've had enough of this' tone. "What is going on? You're freaking me out senpais."

"Kousuke had, finally, found a girl who caught his interest…"

"Shun, don't." He warned his friend, suddenly getting cold feet.

"Urgh, right. You won't even meet her if you keep running away. Well, _he_ wanted to ask if you could arrange some _subtle_ introduction, because he is an idiot and he is scared of approaching her. Or asking your assistance, which is, I think, utterly stupid." He explained shortly.

"Oh…" She blinked at both. "If I know the girl, I think it shouldn't be a problem. Who are we talking about here?"

Wakamatsu aligned his steps with them, to hear everything properly, but now he was blushing like a tomato. This was more embarrassing than he'd thought. He wouldn't have been able to ask Aya-chan like that.

"Kousuke?" Shun raised an eyebrow at his friend. "I'm not doing everything in your stead, vice-captain." He nudged him.

"I believe her name was Ohno Kiku-san." He said and looked at his feet.

Aya made an 'Oh' face. "That's…" It surprised her. True, she'd been thinking a bit about this, but now it was real and knowing Kiku, she was 98% sure the girl would be probably scared of the huge center.

"No good?" Wakamatsu asked, his heart sinking.

"No, no, no." Aya waved her arm quickly to lift up his spirit. "I'm surprised that you know her name and who Kiku is, that's all. I'll think something up, don't worry." She smiled at the loudmouth, who was, all of a sudden, not as loud. "But senpai… Please try treating her gently, and don't scare her too much. She is my dear friend."

The hazelnut eyes widened at the manager. "I'll try." He nodded seriously.

"Thank you."

Afterwards, they discussed the training camp again and the boys remembered their very first training camp at Touou. Aya had a good laugh, Tada-senpai was a good entertainer and it was easy to talk with him, and Wakamatsu had his share of funny stories too, caused mostly by his straightforwardness.

Kousuke's stomach rumbled as they arrived at the station. "I'm so hungry." He complained.

"Then go buy something." Shun pointed at a small bakery they were passing. It was probably the delicious smell coming out of the shop, which had triggered Kousuke's hunger.

"Be right back!" He saluted and ducked to enter the shop.

"So, Aya-chan." Shun started at her with his dark grey eyes so intensely, it made a chill ran down her spine.

"Yes?" She asked levelly, not giving out she was feeling slightly uncomfortable under his stare.

"I want to know something about you in exchange." He smiled slyly. "Just in case."

"Well, I'm not obliged to tell you anything." Then she sighed. "But I guess it's fair. So… Things I don't want the team to know yet? Mom's dead, father's in America and I'm here solely with my twin. I was a world champion in dancing, had some interpersonal issues, quit, and Katsunori asked me to come to Touou to help with Aomine… That's about it." It was the first time she summed up her life story into 2 sentences.

Shun's jaw dropped.

"Google me up if your English is good enough, senpai. But don't believe all you read. 's that enough 'incentive' for you?"

He nodded reluctantly. He'd expected something like 'I like xy' and not this…

"I recommend you to keep it to yourself, senpai. I'm sly as much as you. And I've walked in a slightly different world until recently." She said coldly and then she smiled brightly. "Other than that, I think we can be good friends."

"…I'll keep that in mind, Aya-chan." He grinned without any ulterior motive, determined to get on good terms with the girl, because she was great and a bit scary.

#######

"Kiku! Can you help me with dinner?" Her mom called her from the kitchen.

"Sure! What are we cooking?"

"Fried rice. Can you prepare the vegetables?"

"Yeah, sure." She said and took out a knife.

They worked in comfortable silence, which was always a quality time spent with her mother. And Kiku liked the silence. At home, it was like a comfortable fluffy blanket protecting her from the outside world.

"Are you going to the orphanage after dinner again?"

"Yeah. I promised Kai a bedtime story." She smiled thinking about the small boy. "But I'll be right back. I need to go over the history project again. Oh, and… I'll go out with Aya-san during the weekend."

"Again?" Sora blinked in surprise, but warmth spread in her chest. Her daughter had a friend. That was a good sign. "Sure. You can bring her home anytime you want, sweety, okay?"

Kiku averted her eyes. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Ryuunosuke should come over tomorrow for a dinner, so be at home, please."

"Sure thing." She nodded as she placed the steaming fried rice on the table.

"Anata! Dinner's ready!"

######

Kiku's phone buzzed in the late evening, when she was idly reading a book. _Eh?_ No one called her so late at night. She glanced at the name displayed on the screen. _Of course it's Aya-san._

"A-Aya-san." She bit her tongue for stuttering on Aya's name. "W-w-what is it?" She asked warily. It was way too late for a casual phone call.

" _Hey. I didn't wake you up, right?"_ Aya's voice sounded slightly different over the phone. Distant and yet unbelievably close. Kiku wasn't used to phone calls at all.

"N-n-no. I've been reading."

" _Good then. I know I could talk to you tomorrow, but we'll have to focus on your presentation. I don't want_ _the_ _boys to know, and Kano tends to hear everything he shouldn't have… Soo…_ "

"Uhm…"

" _I need your help. I have a favour to ask of you, Kiku."_

"I-I-I'm l-listening." She said, feeling unbelievably happy that there was something she could do for the redhead.

" _Your baking skills are good?"_

"I suppose." _Finally!_ She didn't stutter. Maybe it was because of the 'home' atmosphere, or maybe it was because of the phone, but… Finally, she didn't stutter when talking to Aya-san.

" _I talked with Katsunori… Uhm, the coach. And there is a practise match ready at the end of the Golden week training camp in over a week. I was thinking of making some surprise treat for the boys, for their hard work and discipline."_

A smile spread on Kiku's lips; a person who was thinking of treats and rewards for the team when they didn't have to, couldn't be bad at all. "What exactly do you have in mind?"

" _Cookies, or muffins… Something simple, really. The club will provide the money for ingredients, of course. Isn't it too much? We have 26 boys now."_

"I think I can handle."

" _Okay. I'll give you proper instructions when the time comes."_

"Okay."

" _Thank you, Kiku. You're a huge help."_

They were quiet for a moment.

" _Ah, Taiga needs something. I have to go. Good night."_

"Good night."

She pressed the phone to her chest and had to fight off a happy squeal. All the bully notes were forgotten. She had a friend. And she could help. It surprised her and scared her at the same time, yes. She'd have to go to the gym full of huge boys, but… But Aya-san would be there. And she was bringing a treat. It should be fine… Right?

The more she was thinking about it, the scarier the idea seemed to be. _Oh god… What have I gotten myself into?_

But the happiness she felt couldn't be overwhelmed by fear. She had to do this, for Aya-san, and mostly, for herself.

* * *

"Ryuu-nii-san, hi! Sorry I'm late." She quickly hugged her brother, who was shooting one arrow after another.

"I heard you were out with your friends." He smiled kindly at his little sister. "I'm glad for that. Are they good?"

"Ah… I told mom I'd go with Aya-san."

"And she told me you went with 'friends'. So? Really just Aya-san?"

"No." She reached at took a recurve bow, she had finally gotten used to enough to hit the bullseye. It took her two long weeks and hours spent in the shooting range. It was an unbelievably quick improvement, but Kiku saw it as a failure. She shouldn't have taken so long. "There was Ishii-kun, and Kano-kun , and Sakurai-kun, and Satsuki-san. I need to present a history project with Ishii-kun on Tuesday so… I had to rehearse it. I can't drag down his mark."

"Oh? Boys?" He asked curiously. "Interesting."

"Aya-san's friends from basketball club. Classmates." She said with a shrug. "Sakurai-kun apologised for breathing today… Could you believe it?" She chuckled.

"I'm glad you're getting happier. I'll stay the night and you can tell me all about them, okay?"

"'kay." She smiled, drew the string and an arrow hissed through the air, finding its target 100m away with a thud.

* * *

"Kou-nii-chan, Shun-nii-chan!" Yuuta barged into his brother's room on Sunday afternoon. "Let's go cycling!"

"No can do." Shun ruffled the boy's white hair. "We have a project to finish."

"Boooring!"

"He is right! We could take a break…" Kousuke protested. "My head will explode if I don't do something!"

Shun frowned at the two brothers. "Five minutes of basketball at most, but I'm not allowing you the bike, Kou, or I won't catch you until late at night."

"I don't want to play basketball." Yuuta puffed his cheeks. "I don't like it."

"Then, what do you want to do?" Shun asked curiously, because he could guess the boy had a certain location in mind. Snowflake rubbed her fluffy white coat against Shun's back, begging for attention and affection.

"I want to go visit Kiku-nee-chan."

"Ki-Kiku-nee-chan?!" Shun shouted in surprise and the cat jumped away from him in sudden fright. "Kousuke? I want an explanation!" He demanded loudly, which was definitely not typical for Shun.

"Chill… It's the girl from the Kyuudo dojo we stumbled upon last time. Nothing to do with Ohno Kiku-chan."

"Huh?" Yuuta blinked at his brother. "Are you dumb? Or you can't read? The dojo is run by Ohno Taiki-sensei. So his daughter is Ohno Kiku-nee-chan." He said dumbfounded by his brother's ignorance.

"What?!" They both snapped at the little brother.

"So-so… the cute girl in hakama…" Kousuke blabbered.

"You're fucking stupid!" Shun hit his friend at the back of his head. "Real! Dumb! Idiot!" He added a jab into Kousuke's ribs with each word he uttered.

"Uhm? Shun-kun? Could you not teach Yuuta the swearing words?" Jun peeked into the room filled with school notes and textbooks.

"I already know them all." Yuuta nodded proudly, with a dignity of an eight year old.

Jun sighed desperately. "At least you don't swear, right?" He picked up a cat and nuzzled his nose against her white belly. "Right, Snowflake?"

"Meow."

"Urgh, dad, you're embarrassing."

The old mad stuck out his tongue. "You're all my kids, it doesn't matter."

"So?" Yuuta bounced up and down. "Can I go visit nee-chan? I want another lesson!"

"I have to study, Yuuta." He grumbled, suddenly feeling totally stupid and out of it. No, he couldn't go to that dojo. _Of course the girl was familiar! Idiot!_

"I wanna go, I wanna go, I wanna go!"

"Where to?" Jun asked, still standing in the door, immersed in cuddling with the cat.

"Kyuudo dojo! I wanna visit Kiku-nee-chan!"

"I can go with you." He shrugged. "I might use a bike ride."

"Yay!" He jumped and hugged his dad. "Love you, dad!"

"Hai, hai. Let's go then. We don't want to be too much of a bother to sensei and Kiku-chan, right?"

"Ah, right away!" He squealed and ran to get changed and prepare his bike. Jun walked out of the room after the little one.

Then he turned around and his head appeared in the door once again. "Oh, study hard, Kousuke." He teased them.

"I hate you." He rolled his eyes at his father.

The man chuckled and walked down the hallway.

"Maaaaan! I don't get how stupid you can be!" Shun sighed dramatically and leaned against a bed.

"Oh, shut up. How was I supposed to know?! She wasn't wearing glasses and had a tenugui!"

"The name!"

"So?! Could be just a name! Can you imagine that little scared girl doing Kyuudo?!"

"Actually…" Shun mused. "Why not? It's calm and you don't run around… I'm curious if she remembers you."

"Probably not. She didn't even look at my face then."

"Huh… Can't imagine you in a Kyuudo dojo." He laughed, imagining his best friend holding a daiyuu. "Ah… You'd be hot in hakama. Just hamaka and nothing else… At least in my imagination."

"Urgh." Wakamatsu grumbled and hit his friend at the back of his head. "I don't mind you swinging the other way, just please, please don't tell me, what you're imagining _me_ like."

"Oh and that there is _**so**_ much to imagine!" Teasing Kousuke was awesome.

"God dammit, Shun!"

"Basketball?" He proposed with a wide grin.

"I'll destroy you."

"You can try~"

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm not sure if I didn't overdo it, but... Well... The next chapter is finally the training camp, and the two will officially meet :)

Let me know what you think, and remember reviews are appreciated, but never necessary.

S.


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